Gundam SEED: Project Unity
by DragonKnightRyu
Summary: The power of the mind is an amazing thing. When two minds work in perfect unity, their power increases a thousand fold. Watch as Kira Yamato learns not just this fact, but just how powerful she and those close to her can become when Project Unity is unleashed. Rating may Change.
1. Chapter One: A False Peace

Disclaimer: This is a Story, based on a Story, based on a Story that I do not own, so if you'd kindly... _**SCREW OFF!**_

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

"_Radio"_

Chapter One: A False Peace

_Heliopolis, Park_

A young woman looking to be about 16 years old with bright, expressive, amethyst colored eyes whose chocolate colored hair fell in waves down to her mid back with two thick strands of hair framing her Asian looking face sat in a Gazebo in the middle of a park. She was about 5'6" with a figure that had all the curves in just the right places, her clothing, while modest, did little to hide these curves, she was wearing a sleeveless black dress shirt that had a V-neckline that showed off some of her cleavage while her black jeans hugged her shapely hips with a pair of comfortable runners finished off her outfit.

Her eyes were darting from a computer screen to a stack of papers being held up by one hand as the other hand flew across the keyboard that rested on her lap, typing in the commands written on the pages. Pausing, she let out a rather cute looking yawn, stretching her arms out and rotating her wrists to work out the kinks from typing on the computer for a good part of the day.

"Break time for you, I think," a voice stated warmly to her right, causing Kira to smile warmly at the speaker.

He was certainly taller than her, standing at an impressive 6'5" with light brown hair cut short to the skull, his eyes were a dark green that seemed to draw a person in while at the same time looking as if he was examining their very souls. Most would attribute his body to that of a soldier with toned, but not overbearing, muscles while his hands showed many callouses upon them speaking of a man who was not afraid to work. He was wearing a denim jacket over a dark green shirt with a pair of blue jeans and what looked to be a pair of combat boots.

"You've been working hard enough today, Kira," He announced as he gently pulled the papers and laptop away from her and placed them on the table before taking Kira's wrists and starting to massage them making her groan in appreciation. "Keep going like that and you'll burn out for sure."

"But, Professor Kato wanted them in today, Ryu..." Kira protested half-heartedly as she closed her eyes and leant back against the bench, allowing him to continue his ministrations which soon followed up her arms.

"Then he should've given them to someone who is _paid _to do them, and not a University student who, while she may have the computer skills of a god, is just that, a student," Ryu said firmly, a smirk playing on his features as he massaged her upper arms before moving on to her shoulders. "Just relax for a while then get back to it later."

Kira sighed as she relented, leaning into her boyfriend of three months. The two had first met when Ryu had started working as an Technical Assistant for her professor, showing them tricks to robotics and certain types of command coding that Kira found oddly similar to that of a mobile suit's. For Kira it had started out as an admiration of sorts when he had stepped in and protected her from a group of Blue Cosmos extremists.

From there it had developed into a strong crush on him, and she had, after some cajoling from her friends, asked him out on a date. His reaction was rather humorous looking back on it, just the straight out flabbergasted look on his face as he dropped the tool he was holding onto his foot, which caused him to shout out a rather strong expletive and crash into the power loader he was working on for the University, causing it to topple over on top of him with only his reflexes saving him from injury as he moved his body into a better position.

Once they extracted him from the loader pinning him, he had agreed to go on a few dates with Kira to see if they had any chemistry together. As it turned out, they actually did have a good chemistry with one another as they talked with one another over dinner before going to see a movie. Since then, the pair had been seen spending much of their spare and working time together, Kira had learned much about the assistant, like that he had been engaged before, only for his fiance to die during the war.

While Kira knew Ryu was being completely honest about the past he _did _talk about, there were some things that he never did talk about. She didn't push him about anything, allowing him to take his time with telling her, although she had some guesses to him having been a mercenary at some point, due to the fact that he owned several firearms and weapons, along with his knowledge on mobile suit mechanics.

"There you are, Imouto!"

The voice came from the path leading up to the Gazebo, and Kira and Ryu both looked up to see a man walking up to them. He looked to be 21 years old, was Asian like Kira, and had the same hair and eye colors that she did, although his hair was done in a Buzz Cut and he also had a fairly bushy moustache. He had a fairly athletic build, was 5'11" in height, and was clad in a dark blue long-sleeved polo shirt and black pants.

"Miriallia and Tolle are looking for you," he said again as he got closer. "It seems like your teacher has more work for you."

Kira groaned in disappointment, both that her moment with her boyfriend was ruined and the news that she had more work being piled onto her. "Are you _kidding _me?" She asked despairingly. "I've been working here all day on the stuff he piled on me yesterday and I'm not even halfway done yet!"

Ryu let out a sigh as he shook his head. "I told him to get another assistant besides me, one that can actually _do _all of that stuff," He groused, looking at the massive lines of coding Kira was working on. "I can only understand about a single percent of what she's finished already..."

Kira snorted as she looked over her shoulder at him. "You're not that bad at it, Ryu," She admonished. "I've seen your work, it's pretty good, in fact I'm using some of the algorithms you showed me, albeit they are simplified to match the specs."

Kira turned back to her laptop, missing the slight narrowing of Ryu's eyes as they darkened a little before returning to normal not even a second later when the new report that Kira had playing caught his attention. Reaching around Kira he tapped the key to make the news report the main screen as the newcomer, Kira's older brother Takeshi, walked around to get a better look. "Kaoshiung," Ryu announced as the reporter announced the heavy fighting between the ZAFT forces and the EA, a ZAFT GiNN hovering in the distance. "This report is... two weeks old, Kaohsiung's fallen then."

"That's close to the homeland, will Orb be alright?" Kira asked her eyes shining in concern as she looked up to her brother and boyfriend.

"I'm not sure, Imouto," Takeshi replied. "Yes, Orb is neutral, but that can only last so long. Especially since ZAFT seems intent on making sure the Earth Alliance doesn't have any Mass Drivers. If they take all of the EA's Mass Drivers out, it'll only be a matter of time before they try to get access to Kaguya-either by diplomacy or through force."

"Don't forget about Orb's connections with Terminal, though," Ryu said as the report shifted to a group of Mobile Suits guarding a group of refugees as they fled from the city. "Terminal and Orb have always been on good terms with one another, they won't sit idly by if the EA decides to attack, not to mention the fact that technologically we have the edge on the EA and somewhat with ZAFT."

"True," Takeshi remarked, his expression surprisingly thoughtful. He then turned to Kira and said, "By the way, Imouto, I got a call from my Boss earlier today. Unfortunately, I need to go on another business trip-I'll be leaving tomorrow and will be gone for a couple of weeks at the very least."

"Really?" Kira asked with a slight pout. "I really don't like you disappearing all the time without being able to contact you, and you _never _tell me what these 'trips' you're on are about." She let out a sigh. "Alright, but when you get back, you _are _sitting down for dinner with me and Ryu and _no _excuses this time, Takeshi."

Takeshi chuckled. "I promise, Imouto," he replied. "In fact, since I don't need to leave until tomorrow, how about I hang out with the two of you for the day? It'll also give me a chance to see your teacher's lab, since you're both needed over there."

Kira smiled and nodded at her brother as she gathered up her things while Ryu and Takeshi stepped outside of the Gazebo. "I'm going to be having words with Kato on using his _students _to complete a military project without them knowing," Ryu growled softly. "I just want the EA off of this Colony before ZAFT shows up, or they realize I'm here right under their noses."

"I know," Takeshi replied. "They're leaving tomorrow, though-and I'm going with them. That's my latest contract-to safeguard their new prototypes until they reach their destination at either the EA's Lunar HQ or JOSH-A. Luckily, Morgenroete decided to build an extra machine just for me-similar styling to the prototypes, but customized to fit my personal style. It's considered the first part of my payment."

Ryu gave Takeshi a sly look. "Don't you think I already knew that?" He asked lightly. "I've been in there, oh, fifty times now checking on their progress and making notes of my own on the suits. Nobody notices the tech grunts, even other tech grunts."

Takeshi smiled. "Just wanted to make sure-you can be such a sneaky bastard at times that even _**I**_ don't know what all you've managed to learn." His expression turned serious. "Take care of Kira while I'm gone, okay? I know how much she cares about you."

Ryu smirked as he clapped a hand onto Takeshi's shoulder. "Come heaven to high hell, nothing will harm her if I can stop it," he swore, looking over his shoulder, his face softening considerably as he watched Kira. "I swore to myself that night when I dropped her off, I swore I would never be that weak again."

Kira, feeling Ryu's eyes upon her, looked up to see Ryu looking at her with a sad, yet undeniably happy expression on his face as he watched her. She had seen him like this before a few times, and attributed it to thinking of his dead fiance. "Okay, I've got everything," Kira announced as she put her shoulder bag on. "Let's get going."

The two males nodded as they fell into step on either side of Kira as they chatted.

And as he continued talking to Ryu, making sure to avoid any topic that might cause Kira to guess what his job really was, Takeshi thought to himself, '_Imouto's really lucky to have found someone like Ryu-someone who she cares about and who cares about her just as much._'

'_I hope I can find someone like that someday..._'

_Outside Heliopolis, ZAFT Warship _Vesalius

Inside the Pilot Prep room, only one person was inside the locker room, floating over the bench. He was wearing a red ZAFT Flight suit which seemed to have some custom black trimming. His helmet was off, revealing him to be a boy no older than 18, with short spiked black hair and crimson red eyes.

The boy looked at his Helmet for a short while, a thinking look on his face before he sighed, putting on his helmet and leaving the room, making his way towards the hangar. It didn't take long until he opened the next door and he floated inside the hangar, where several GiNN's were preparing to launch.

"Hey Jaden, there you are!" A voice called out, as Jaden Takeo glanced to his side to see his fellow pilot, Miguel Aiman floating towards him. "What took you so long?"

"Nothing," Jaden said with a sigh. "Just... you think this is a good idea Miguel?"

"What do you mean?" The Magic Bullet of Dusk asked.

"Miguel, we're attacking _Heliopolis,_ an _Orb _colony," Jaden said. "Not only will this be a political nightmare, but we're attacking a _neutral _colony!"

"Jaden, Commander Le Creuset said Orb is building mobile suits for the E.A!" Miguel said. "I don't think that counts as neutral."

"No, he said they were being built by Morgenroete," Jaden pointed out. "They're an _Independent _company, the Orb Government can't order them what to do. There's nothing in the treaty saying they can't do that." He then sighed. "Either way... there _has _to be a better way to do this, I mean attacking from _inside _of the colony?"

"We have to capture the machines, that's what the commander said," Miguel said, before Jaden shook his head. "I know that, but... we're attacking a civilian colony either way..." he said before he clenched his fists. "I keep getting reminded of the damn Bloody Valentine doing this..."

Miguiel sighed as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I know where you're coming from, I do," he said. "But orders are orders, the best we can do is at least to _try _and minimize damage to the colony, alright?"

Jaden sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right..." he said. "I still don't like it... well let's get to our suits, you going in your GiNN? We just finished the repairs recently."

"Nah, going in one of the other GiNNs," Miguel said with a smile. "Don't think I need my Custom, at least not yet. By the way, thanks for doing those Repairs, Jaden, I didn't think you could repair it so quickly."

Jaden chuckled before he floated towards a Black-and-Red-Colored GiNN. "It's what I do best!" he called out as he approached the cockpit. "Good luck, Miguel!"

_Earth Alliance _Marseille-III _Class Transport Ship_

"Y'know Capt. we are either very lucky or walking straight into a trap if that Nazca-class that's been following us hasn't attacked us yet," Said a 6' tall blonde haired blue eyed lieutenant with a sinewy frame and lightly tanned skin. "Because I am getting a bad feeling about this."

"Mu, you are too paranoid for your own good, how do you sleep at night?" The Captain asked with a chuckle. Turning serious he said, "ZAFT wouldn't dare to try anything now that we are docked in a neutral colony."

"I don't know, Captain. My gut hasn't proved me wrong yet," warned Mu La Flaga. "The last time I ignored the feeling, Endymion happened and I'd rather not have this colony destroyed thank you."

The Captain sighed as he looked at the ace pilot. "ZAFT is a strong organization and the only reason this war went on is because ORB has maintained its policy of neutrality," He explained as he looked out the viewport at the work crews that are resupplying the ship ."they would not dare upset the neutrality that has kept ORB out of this."

Before Mu could respond, however, several pilots came in and requested permission to disembark. "We would like to get familiar with our new machines as soon as possible." one of the pilots explained to the captain.

"Very well, and do be careful-ZAFT may have spies posted here." The captain said as he saluted. He turned to Mu with a resigned look. "Do you think they will be alright?" He asked.

"Honestly, Captain, those kids won't last too long in the machines, the Operating System(OS) is far too complicated to be operated during a fight." Mu said honestly with a sigh as a faraway look crossed his face. "If only he was still here, than we would at least have a chance at making a better OS."

The Captain grunted his agreement as he knew who Mu was talking about, Mu turned towards the exit. "I'll take my squad on patrol," he said over his shoulder. "I don't want to get caught with my pants down again, the last time that happened we lost too many good people."

_Inside of Heliopolis, Air Vents_

A squad of ZAFT Green and Red Coats in their flight suits were all standing in the Air Vents looking to their leader who was looking at the watch on his wrist. He was about Sixteen with navy blue hair and green eyes. "You know the plan, guys," He stated looking up from the watch. "Make sure to plant the C4 around the ship, we cannot let it launch when the Commander makes his move."

The rest of the soldiers nodded their understanding before the group split up heading in different directions.

_Heliopolis, Vehicle Terminal_

As Takeshi, Kira, and Ryu arrived at the vehicle terminal, having run into Miriallia Haw and Tolle Koenig along the way, they saw a group of three girls chatting amongst themselves.

'_Just my luck,_' Takeshi thought. '_Of all the people I could run into at a terminal like this, it had to be Flay Allster, spoiled rich kid of the colony and daughter of George Allster..._'

Ryu merely sighed at the sight of the red headed girl, while he would be the first to agree to her being a spoiled brat, he also knew that she really was just unsure on herself, hence why she struck out at others who she perceived as a 'threat', although she avoided targeting Kira when the brunette had politely informed her that unless Flay wanted all of her dirty little secrets aired on the web, she'd leave Kira and her friends alone.

Just thinking of that day brought a smile to his face as the pale faced Flay fled from the classroom after attempting to turn Kira's friend Sai, and Flay's fiancé through political union, against Kira because of Kira being a first generation Coordinator. At least she was smarter than the average Blue Cosmos supporter.

Takeshi caught the smile on Ryu's face and resisted the urge to ask, even though he was sure what Ryu was thinking of was most likely hilarious.

"Hey look, it's Matthew and Amy. Matthew! Amy!" Kira shouted with a wave to catch the attention of a pair approaching the Vehicle Terminal as Mir was dragged into Flay's group to gossip about Flay possibly receiving a love letter from Sai.

The two people in question waved their hands in response as they crossed the street towards them. Matthew Takeo was a 19 year old man standing at 5'11 with short but shaggy black hair and dark green eyes, wearing a pair of blue jeans, a black T-Shirt and an old jacket along with a pair of boots. Amy Takeo, Matthew's younger sister by about two years, stood two inches shorter than her older brother, with long shoulder length red hair and emerald green eyes, wearing a dark red dress shirt with a knee high skirt and black shoes.

"Hey guys," Matthew said. "You guys got the call, too?"

Kira sighed with a nod. "Yeah, all the crap he keeps piling onto us is horrid!" she complained. "I haven't had a full night's sleep in ages."

Amy giggled a bit. "Matthew's been pulling extra hours to keep both of us up, too," she said, sighing a bit. "I wish our brother were here... he'd have gotten it all done days ago. He's probably as good with computers as you are Kira."

"You have a brother aside from Matt?" Takeshi asked in surprise. "You never told us that, who is he?"

"He's Amy's twin brother," Matthew said with a sigh. "We... haven't seen or heard him since the Bloody Valentine, he use to live in Orb but... but before we could contact him or anything... he left. We think he moved to the PLANTs... don't know where he's at now."

Takeshi nodded. "I see," he said. "Well, next time I'm at the PLANTs, I'll see if I can find him. What's his name?"

"Jaden," Matthew said. "Jaden Darwin Takeo."

Takeshi stiffened as he heard that, his eyes going wide. '_No way,_' he thought. '_It couldn't be him... could it?_'

Ryu froze for a minute as he looked at Matthew before breaking away his gaze so that no one would notice the strange look in his eyes. '_That kid, huh, sorry Matt..._' He thought to himself as memories of a battle long past ran through his mind. '_I'd tell ya, but... that is all behind me now._'

Matthew and Amy looked at Takeshi oddly. "Take? Something wrong?" he asked.

Takeshi shook his head, clearing it. "No, nothing's wrong," he said.

'_I wish I could tell them where I'd heard their brother's name before,_' he thought, '_but if I did that now, Imouto might ask questions about where I'd learned that information, which would lead down territory I'd rather not go down at the moment._'

"Excuse me," A stern feminine voice said behind them, they turned to see a woman wearing dark shades with dark hair along with a pair of males standing behind them impatiently. "If you are just going to be sitting here talking, can we access the Terminal?"

Takeshi smiled at her, recognizing her from the meeting he'd had a few days ago. "Of course, Miss Badgiruel," he said, moving to the side and letting her go past. "And I must say, I look forward to working with you in the future."

"You know this woman, Takeshi-nii?" Kira asked.

"That I do," Takeshi replied. "Remember that business trip I mentioned? Well, it's a joint business venture between her employers and mine, and I'm going to be working with her and some other members of her company for a while."

"Ah, you're the... specialist that is being assigned to us," Badgiruel said as she looked him over before her eyes moved over to Takeshi's companions, in particular Ryu's back as he found something on the other side of the street particularly interesting. "I look forward to working with you in the future."

"Thank you, Miss Badgiruel," Takeshi replied as the woman and her companions made their way to one of the cars parked at the terminal. "I'll see you tomorrow when it's time to leave."

She nodded in agreement as they loaded up and punched in their destination before the car took off. "She seemed really uptight," Kira said with a shake of her head. "I don't say this often, but she needs to get laid."

"I agree with you there, Imouto," Takeshi remarked with a laugh. "She _**is**_ pretty uptight, to be honest-always wanting to follow her company's rules and regulations to the absolute letter, no exceptions whatsoever. I pity any of her subordinates if she ever enters into a position of authority."

Ryu gave a snort of agreement as he watched them disappear down the road. "She'd be the type to ban fun because it's inefficient," Ryu stated with a sigh. "I suppose we really should be getting to the University now, as much as I want to avoid it."

Takeshi nodded, grabbing another car and taking the driver's seat as Kira and Ryu piled into the back, with Tolle, Miriallia, Matthew, and Amy taking another one. The two cars then left the terminal, heading for the University.

Ryu watched the scenery as it whizzed past with disinterested eyes as he held Kira close to him with her snuggling up close. '_This feeling..._' He thought to himself as a cold feeling pit of... _something _settled within him. '_Something's going to happen today... is it ZAFT? or something else?_' He let out a sigh before looking down to Kira with a soft smile on his face. '_Let come what hell awaits me, but I'll be damned it I allow it to harm her._'

Takeshi felt a similar feeling. '_My instincts are acting up again,_' he thought. '_Last time they did this was back at the battle of Nova, just before I ran afoul of the Demon of Endymion. This doesn't bode well..._'

_Meanwhile, _Vesalius

As he sat in the cockpit of his GiNN, Jaden felt a strange tingle in the back of his mind, causing his eyes to snap open. '_This feeling..._' he thought, '_I haven't felt that since that battle at Nova, and since the last time I fought..._' his eyes narrowed. '_him... he's here!_'

He glanced at a small picture on the GiNN's console, which had the image of Jaden along with several other people his age in ZAFT greencoats, the only man wearing a black coat was standing next to Jaden, who had his head in a griplock, but both were still smiling with the others.

'_Commander..._' he thought before his fists tightened around his controls. '_If he's here... I'll finish what you started._'

"_All hands, begin operation._" The comm's turned on. "_Launch all Mobile Suits._"

The catapult hatch opened even as the linear rails extended outside the ship, and the GiNNs began marching to the catapult single file. Miguel was first to the Catapult, as he began drifting in zero gravity. "_Miguel Aiman, GiNN, Launching!_" Miguel called out over the comm before the catapult activated, sending him hurtling forward.

Jaden was next in line, as he followed Miguel's lead. Once he was in position his own suit began to float in Zero G. "Jaden Takeo, GiNN Custom, Let's Rock and Roll!"

Marseille-III _Class Transport Ship_

Alarms flashed through the bridge of the Alliance Vessel as it registered the the launching GiNNs. "What?" The captain asked in shock. "They're actually going to attack us? Dammit... La Flaga, take your squad and launch!"

"_Understood, Mu la Flaga, Moebius Zero, Launching!_" He shouted out as his custom Zero launched from the ship with two regular Moebiuses following him.

"Alright you two, keep it tight, this is the big leagues here, boys!" Mu ordered to his two wingmen as they got into formation.

"_Yessir!_" They replied smartly, keeping close to their Squad Leader.

_Morgenroete Technical University, Heliopolis_

As the battle was starting to get underway, the group had arrived at the University, and were just entering Kato's Lab.

Inside were Sai Argyle and Kuzzey Buzzkirk, two other students in the class, along with another figure, who was standing against a wall. The figure was wearing a coat and hat, concealing their gender, and had blond hair and orange eyes.

As most of the group greeted Sai and Kuzzey, Takeshi was busy looking at the other figure, recognizing her even with the coat and hat. '_What's Cagalli Yula Athha doing here?_' he asked himself. '_Did she hear about the G-Project somehow?_'

"Hey Kira, here's the stuff the professor wanted you to look over," Sai announced as he held up a data disk for the girl to take.

"Jeez, can't he do his own work for once," Kira complained as she took the disk and loaded it into her computer she used at the lab. "More of the same stuff, Sai, does this look like an OS to you or is it just me?"

"It looks the same to me and Amy," Matthew said as he sat down at a computer. "In fact, Amy did some tests last night, and when you put all of our work together, it almost looks like an OS to a Mobile Suit..."

Takeshi resisted the urge to tell them that they were right. He _**really**_ wanted to, but his contract required him to maintain the security of the project except in case of an emergency. All he could do was just watch them work, and see if they could figure it out on their own.

Kira typed in a few commands into her computer to bring up several of her custom programs that immediately set upon the OS. "Screw whatever secrecy Kato is trying to pull, I want to know what I'm working on, here!" She declared angrily.

"Uh oh," Ryu muttered as he went to his own desk and picked up a device that Kato wanted him to fix. "Kira's going 'God-Modded Hacker' on us again."

Takeshi raised an eyebrow at that. "'God-Modded Hacker'?" he asked Ryu. He'd heard about his sister's programming skills, but he hadn't heard just how good they were.

He shrugged. "Seriously, if she felt like it, she could hack both ZAFT High Command and Earth Alliance High Command at the same time," he declared, watching her as she typed away furiously at her keyboard, the computer almost struggling to keep up. "Kinda scary to be honest, where we see lines of command coding, she sees what they are actually _doing. _How else would you describe it?"

Takeshi nodded. "Makes sense," he said. His voice then dropped to a whisper as he asked, "And you do know who that person leaning against the wall is, right? I wonder what she's doing here..."

Ryu glanced over to Cagalli. "My guess is she found out about Morgenroete and came here without saying anything to her father," Ryu whispered back. "The Lioness of ORB always has been an act first think later type of person."

"Yeah, that does sound like her," Takeshi whispered in reply. "Let's hope nothing bad happens-I'd rather not be the one to tell the Lion of Orb that something happened to his daughter."

Ryu snorted with a smirk as he fiddled with the object he was repairing. "Many people seem to conveniently forget he was in the military before getting into politics," Ryu pointed out. "And that 'Lion of ORB' is his ace title."

"Yeah," Takeshi replied. "Speaking of aces... you recognized the name of Matthew and Amy's brother as well, I take it?"

Ryu paused for a second before resuming his work, his face becoming blank. "Of course I did," he said, his voice no longer carefree or kind, but void of any emotion. "After all..." he looked up at Takeshi, his eyes darkened and cold. "He wants to kill me."

Takeshi's eyes widened slightly, before they narrowed. "Something related to Endymion, I take it," he said.

Ryu shrugged. "Only one of many who wishes to kill me in retaliation for the many that I have killed," He responded in the same voice before it started to take a dangerous tint to it. "However, even if he is Matthew's little brother, I will not hesitate should he become too big of a threat to those I care for."

Takeshi nodded. "Same here," he said. "It doesn't matter who my enemy is-if they threaten my friends and family, I will show them no mercy."

"After all, that's the fate of a soldier." Ryu whispered, closing his eyes even as he continued to fiddle with the object.

_Meanwhile, _Archangel Hangar

As ZAFT began their attack outside, the EA Forces and Morgenroete workers in the _Archangel's _hangar bay were preparing the ship for an emergency launch to help in the defense of Heliopolis. However as they prepared, the charges set up by ZAFT finally hit Zero, and exploded.

_Back in Kato's Lab_

Everyone was thrown to the ground as the building was rocked by a tremor.

"Frak!" Takeshi swore. "Why is it that things always go to hell in a handbasket at the last possible second? Just once, _**just once**_ I'd like a situation where things go according to plan, or get fouled up almost immediately after said plan starts, so the plan can be more easily fixed. _**Apparently**_ that's too much to ask, though."

"Yeah, plans never survive, _ever._" Ryu commented as he reached underneath his desk and pulled out a large foot locker and opened it up to reveal a flack jacket and a customized MP5 with a scope and several clips. His friends, save the Yamatos who knew he had them, stared in shock as he pulled the jacket on and slid the clips into holsters and picked up the weapon. "Alright guys, you know the drill, get to the shelters!"

"I'll head off on my own," Takeshi remarked, surprising his sister as he pulled out a Desert Eagle and strapped on his standard Katana. "There's something I need to do. I'm entrusting my sister to your care, Ryu-hopefully I'll see you two again once all this is over."

"Takeshi-nii?" Kira asked in confusion before her brother ran off with Ryu pulling her in the opposite direction. "Ryu, what the hell is going on?"

Ryu sighed as he led them to the stairwell "ZAFT's attacking the colony," He informed, kicking the door open to the packed stairwell. "I need to get you guys to the shelters!"

"You're kidding!" Tolle yelled. "Why would ZAFT want to attack us? And how are you so sure that it's ZAFT in the first place?!"

Meanwhile, the Professor's guest simply narrowed her eyes before separating from the group, running in a direction that almost everyone else would consider random.

"H-Hey, wait a second! The shelters aren't that way!" Kira shouted as she took off after the guest with Matthew and Amy.

"Sonnovabitch!" Ryu cursed angrily. "Sai, get yourself and the others to the shelters _now_!" He ordered before taking off after the four.

_With Takeshi_

Takeshi had wasted no time running to a special Hangar inside the University, quickly typing in an access code and entering the hangar.

Inside was a Mobile Suit, colored a dull grey. The machine had a fairly large flight pack on the back with a pair of cylinders sticking out the top of it, two weapons on the shoulders, two swords mounted on the hips, a large shield on the left forearm, and a smaller shield with a beam rifle and switchblade equipped to it on the right forearm.

Quickly entering the cockpit, Takeshi strapped himself in and started the machine up, watching as the startup screen appeared on the front display monitor on the console.

**MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM  
/Version GX0 – N099/  
G**eneral  
**U**nilateral  
**N**euro – link  
**D**ispersive  
**A**utonomic  
**M**aneuver  
**G.U.N.D.A.M. Synthesis System**

**TXG-103 Tempest  
Terminal**

"Gundam..." Takeshi muttered as he continued his startup checklist. "Definitely sounds better than 'G-Weapon'."

The screens came active, showing the hangar around him even as a hatch opened above him. He triggered the switch labeled 'PHASE SHIFT', causing the torso of his machine to turn black with dark blue trim while the rest of it turned dark blue with black trim, the V-Fin head crest turning golden.

"As much as I want to focus on defending my home, I have to remember my contract-defending the EA Prototypes and preventing them from entering ZAFT hands takes priority. Well, here goes! Takeshi Yamato, Tempest Gundam, Let's do it!"

The machine launched straight up, flying out of the building as Takeshi began searching for where the other G-Weapons... no... where the other Gundams were.

_With Ryu and Kira_

Ryu growled as he lead the group through the abandoned hallways of the Factory District, once they had caught up with the guest of the professor the hallway they had came from collapsed into rubble blocking off their escape. '_The only way out is right past the G-Weapons Hangar,_' He thought to himself as he lead the group. '_There's going to fierce fighting there, I just hope that I get at least get the others out of here._'

The guest, whose hat had blown off exposing her hair, was indignant that she had been followed. "You shouldn't have followed me," she said to them. "There's something I need to check out _**on my own**_."

"Cagalli, shut up, you've already put yourself in enough danger coming here without the knowledge of your father," Ryu barked out harshly, causing Cagalli to blink in surprise that he knew who she was. "So I highly advise that unless you want to be another casualty, you shut up and follow my orders."

Cagalli bristled. "Listen here, you, I-"

"Lady, trust me. Don't argue with Ryu," Matthew said as he and his sister ran with them. "You do _not _want to get him pissed."

Kira simply resolved the issue by grabbing Cagalli's wrist and dragging her along. "H-hey!" Cagalli cried out indignantly. "Let go of me!"

"Listen, I may not know what's going on entirely, but I think that making sure we are _alive _is more important than _any_ fool's errand you are on," Kira snapped with a rare glare to the blond. "So unless this little errand of yours is going to mean the immediate end of the world, it is _not _our problem right now!"

Cagalli was silent, shocked at the intensity of Kira's outburst. A part of her noticed that they were still traveling down the path she was going in the first place, but she was still a bit annoyed that these people had decided to follow her.

Ryu held up his hand to stop the others as the sound of gunfire reached his ear. "We're heading straight for a fire fight here, guys!" He called out in warning. "I want all of you to make a dash for the other side, I'll be giving you cover fire to make sure no one starts taking potshots at you," He looked at Cagalli with narrowed eyes. "No stopping."

Cagalli wanted to say something, but common sense chose that moment to kick in and she simply nodded her head.

Ryu leapt forward taking cover behind a part of the covered safety bars and took a look down below at the raging battle, the EA and Morgenroete Mechanics were valiantly attempting to defend the G-Weapons, however, the ZAFT soldiers were making steady progress toward them. "Go Now!" Ryu shouted to the civilians behind him as he took aim and started to fire on the soldier up on the catwalks with them, making sure they weren't a threat.

The group looked at Ryu in surprise, before they quickly quickly ran as quickly as they could towards the other side of the hanger. However Matthew glanced down at the machines below. '_Where have I seen those before..._' he thought before he continued running with the others.

Meanwhile, down in the hanger itself, Athrun fired his own SMG at the EA forces, before another ZAFT in a red coat arrived. "Athrun! We've got a problem!" He said.

"What is it, Rusty?" Athrun shouted as he tossed out a grenade.

"Intel screwed us over again!" Rusty shouted. "There's five more machines in here than what they said!"

"Are you kidding me?" Athrun asked in shock. "How could we have been off by so much?"

"No clue, sir!" a nearby soldier replies. "The only question now is what do we _**do**_ about it?"

Athrun growled slightly. "Grab what you can! Destroy the rest!" he ordered out before several shots rang out as a pair of soldiers dropped dead, riddled with gunfire from above. "Suppressive fire!" Athrun ordered, blind firing at the general area of the sniper.

Ryu took cover behind the corner as his position was riddled with bullets. He looked across the walkway to see Kira and the others waiting for him. "Go! Get to the shelter!" He shouted out to them. "I'll make sure these bastards don't follow you!"

"No way!" Kira shouted back. "I'm not leaving you here!"

"Go Kira, I'll be fine!" Ryu assured. "I've survived worse odds than this, get going! Get her out of here, Matt!"

"I don't care, Ryu!" Kira replied. "If you're staying, then so am I! I'm not leaving you behind!"

"Dammit, Kira!" Ryu shouted as the gunfire lessened, he leaned out and fired off several shots taking out another group of ZAFT soldiers, forcing the rest into cover as he scanned the room, taking in the positions of the mobile suits and what he remembered of them.

His eyes landed on a particular one that sat separated from the rest. '_That's... the Duo, the dual cockpit mobile suit..._' he thought before looking up at Kira's stubborn face with a sigh. "Fine, Matt get the others out of here, Kira stay close!"

Kira nodded as she met Ryu at the middle of the Catwalk and stayed low behind him as he moved across the catwalk, taking shots at anyone who attempted to shoot at them. "Alright, Kira I want you to jump down on that mobile suit there and get in, start up the machine and fix the OS on it!"

"R-right!" Kira replied as she leapt down to the Duo.

However, as she approached the Duo, Athrun was still fighting the Morgenroete Engineers. "Rusty! Get into one of the machines!" He shouted. "This whole place is gonna blow soon!"

"Right!" Rusty said just as he ran from his cover, and hopped into the cockpit of a mobile suit with a large rifle mounted on its shoulder. Just as his cockpit closed, Athrun looked around, and saw someone moving towards one of the other suits. He wasn't able to see who, but he could tell they were not wearing a ZAFT flight suit, so they were most likely either EA or Morgenroete. Athrun took aim, lead the target... and fired a single three round burst.

As Kira ran towards the Duo, almost reaching the machine itself, she suddenly heard the sound of a gun firing, followed by a sudden burst of pain in her right shoulder and a spray of something red splashing on her face causing her to cry out, realizing she had just been shot.

"KIRA!" Ryu shouted out as he saw blood spray out from her shoulder with her crying out in pain.

Athrun watched as the target fell, however as the target fell, he got a better look at who it was through the scope of his rifle... and his eyes widened as he realized the feminine figure and the face...

'_K-Kira?_' He thought, before a sweep of horror came upon him as he suddenly realized that he just _shot _his best friend!

Before anyone could do anything, however, a roar of rage was heard above them as they spotted someone descending down from the catwalks. Several soldiers suddenly dropped to the ground with bullet holes dead center in their foreheads. "Shoot!" Athrun barked out as the person darted in between them, moving towards the fallen Kira, some of them dropping from bullet wounds, others dropping from a well-placed kick or punch.

Ryu knelt down next to Kira and carefully picked her up into his arms and leapt up atop of the Duo and climbed into the cockpit, he set Kira up in the second control seat making sure the safety straps were set firmly and not against her wound before quickly bandaging it. "Stay with me, Kira," He ordered, his voice filled with worry. "Just hang on, I'll get you some help as soon as I can."

Kira nodded weakly as she fought to stay conscious, focusing on her boyfriend as he set himself up in the control seat before hers and start up the unit, the OS flashing before her eyes.

**MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM  
/Version GX0 – N099/  
G**eneral  
**U**nilateral  
**N**euro – link  
**D**ispersive  
**A**utonomic  
**M**aneuver  
**G.U.N.D.A.M. Synthesis System**

**UPX-X001 'Duo'  
O.M.N.I Enforcer**

'_Gun... dam?_' She thought weakly.

"OH COME ON!" Matthew shouted as he slammed his fist against one of the shelter doors, all of which were full. "Dammit, what do we do now?"

"Well I don't wanna stand here and do nothing!" Amy shouted as she ran towards the railings which lead to the hanger below.

"Amy, wait!" Matthew shouted, but Amy didn't listen as she jumped down into the hangar, landing on the leg of one of the Mobile suits below, and ran to the cockpit.

Matthew sighed. "My crazy little sister..." he muttered, "Now I know how Takeshi feels..." He then took a few steps back before looking at Cagalli. "I think you'd better come with me." He said before he picked up Cagalli bridal style.

"Wait, what are youAAHHHH!" She shouted as Matthew suddenly ran forward, and jumped over the railings, and landing on the leg of one of the suits with a _thud,_ causing him to grunt a bit. '_Gonna feel that in the morning..._' he thought as he set Cagalli back on her feet.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Cagalli screeched, causing Matt to wince a bit.

"I'm saving your life!" Matthew shouted before he grabbed her by the wrist before he lead her into the cockpit of the machine they landed on. "Get behind the seat," Matt said as he closed the hatch right after they got inside, starting up the power sequence. "This is gonna be a bumpy ride!"

**MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM  
/Version GX0 – N099/  
G**eneral  
**U**nilateral  
**N**euro – link  
**D**ispersive  
**A**utonomic  
**M**aneuver  
**G.U.N.D.A.M. Synthesis System**

**GAT-X130 Templar**

**O.M.N.I Enforcer**

'_Gundam?_' Matthew thought with a blink '_It couldn't be... could it?_' Filing that thought for a later time for when their lives were _not _in danger, he began getting the Mobile Suit to get back onto its feet.

_With Takeshi_

Takeshi had been quick to notice the theft of a number of the Gundams, seeing them stand up from trailers and take off without taking any shots at the ZAFT machines in the colony.

'_This isn't good,_' he thought as he chased after them. '_I doubt the EA wants any of these things falling into the hands of ZAFT, so I'm going to have to try and take them down._'

However, before he could pursue any farther, his instincts screamed at him, allowing him to dodge a burst of gunfire from a GiNN-a familiar red-and-black GiNN.

'_Oh, slag,_' he thought. '_I just _**had**_ to run into the Demon of Endymion, didn't I?_'

He charged the GiNN, switching his 'Exia' Sword/Rifle to Sword Mode, hoping to at least disarm the enemy quickly and get back to his pursuit of the stolen Gundams.

Within the GiNN, Jaden eyed the mobile suit ahead of him suspiciously. '_Where have I seen that unit before?_' he thought before shaking his head. '_Doesn't matter, it's EA, so it needs to go down before it engages Yzak and the others._' Jaden raised up his GiNN's 28mm Vulcan Shield before firing a volley of bullets at the enemy mobile suit.

Takeshi brought up the Tempest's shield, blocking a majority of the shots while the rest bounced off of its Phase Shift Armor. He charged even through the barrage, quickly closing to melee range and slashing with the Exia, attempting to remove the enemy's arm.

Jaden simply backed his GiNN up, avoiding his limbs from being chopped off before drawing his own two Anti-Armor Swords, one in each of his hands.

Storing the Exia, Takeshi drew his own Anti-Armor Swords, assuming a ready stance as he prepared to charge again. Takeshi couldn't help but chuckle at how similar this was to when he'd faced the Demon back at Nova, with the only difference being that Takeshi had been in a Patriot at the time, one colored similarly to the Tempest but still a Patriot.

Jaden was the first to strike, as his blades collided with the Tempest's, the two mobile suits soon began trading blows and flying circles around one another. As they fought, Jaden began getting a sense of familiarity from the fighting style of the mobile suit.

Suddenly, Jaden recalled his battle at Nova while it was still being towed to L5, where he fought a Patriot which shared a similar color scheme. He then grinned a bit. '_Could this be the same pilot from before?_' he thought. '_Well, this should be fun._' He then raised his GiNN's leg, and kicked the Tempest in the torso, forcing it back before he charged forward again with his swords.

Takeshi quickly recovered from the kick before blocking the GiNN's swords with his own. Before either of them could do anything else, though, an explosion from below caught both of their attention.

'_That explosion came from the factory..._' Takeshi thought before his eyes widened. '_The other Prototypes!_' He kicked the GiNN in the torso, forcing the enemy away from him before diving towards the source of the explosion, hoping nothing had happened to the other prototypes.

Jaden glared at the mobile suit, before he looked back at the explosion. Suddenly he felt a very familiar feeling in the back of his skull. '_What's this?_' he thought. '_I haven't felt that since..._' suddenly his eyes narrowed. "He's here... he's really here!" He then launched back towards the factory, following the Tempest at a distance. '_I've waited for this day for almost an entire year..._' he thought as he glanced at the photo once again. '_This one is for you, Commander._'

_With Ryu and Kira_

Ryu looked over his shoulder to Kira, who was grimacing in pain with every step the Duo took as it jostled her wound. "Just hang on Kira," He said over his shoulder as the final adjustment to the OS was made. "I'll get you some help, just hang on." He paused when he felt a sudden sense of Killing Intent heading for him.

'_So the kid's here after all, huh?_' Ryu thought with a sigh, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry Kira, bear with it for a bit longer," He said apologetically as he activated the Duo's Phase Shift Armor, drew out one of the Heat Shotels, and held the shield at the ready. "This is going to get rough."

Kira nodded weakly. "Do what you need to do, Ryu..." she said. "I can handle it..." she then grunted as she felt another twinge of pain from the wound.

Ryu nodded and quickly looked over the armaments and noticed the DRAGOON units. '_These must've been a recent addition,_' he thought. '_But in this part of the Colony they'll be useless..._'

Suddenly, two additional GiNN's arrived at the battlefield, landing on the ground before the last black and Red colored GiNN with Katana Swords landed in front of them as well. The GiNN's Omni-eye glaring right at the Duo's face. It then reached its hand behind the GiNN's back, before pulling out a new blade, which after drawing it out fully, had a bright pink blade ignite out of it. Wordlessly, the GiNN then darted forward, in a side-swipe in an attempt to slice the Duo in half.

Ryu's response was swift as he used his shield to stop the blade and used the leg of the Duo to kick the GiNN away before opening up with his Igelstellungs, riddling the unit with Bullets as he activated the flight pack of the Duo to take to the air in an attempt to get to a more favorable area.

Jaden rose his GiNN's Vulcan Shield up as he fired the 28mm rounds ahead of the Duo, though only a few of the shots hit, doing no damage.

'_So that's the rumored PS armor..._' Jaden thought, '_Standard bullets and missiles can't do much... but the kinetic force of the strikes themselves should rattle the insides, not to mention that armor can't cover the whole suit, there has to be chinks in that armor... and I'll find 'em._' He then smirked a bit. '_The limb joints should be an easy start, and parts of that face must be vulnerable, too._'

However, he was interrupted by a small barrage of energy blasts, which he was forced to evade. Looking at the source, he saw the Tempest hovering between him and the Duo, Exia in Rifle Mode and pointed directly at him.

Takeshi spared a second to look at the Duo. '_Judging from how viciously he was attacking the Duo, and what I've learned today, there's really only one possibility as to who one of the pilots is..._' He then opened a comm channel to the Duo. "To the Pilot of the UPX-X001 Duo, this is the TXG-103 Tempest. Ryu, is that you in there?"

"_Takeshi, glad you showed up, listen, Kira got injured when we got separated from the group!_" Ryu informed, causing Takeshi to gasp. "_I can't fight with her in the cockpit like this!_"

Takeshi snarled as he turned his gaze towards the red-and-black GiNN, the GiNN that was currently threatening the safety of his sister. "Get out of here, Ryu, I've got this," he growled. "These bastards just lost any leniency I was planning on giving them."

"_I owe you one, Takeshi,_" He said gratefully as the Duo rocketed away, looking for a safe place to land.

Takeshi nodded, before setting his Comm system to broadcast on an open channel. "All right, _temes_," he said in a dangerous tone of voice. "Attacking my home was bad enough, but when you threaten my sister's safety, that's where I draw the line." The Exia switched back into Sword Mode as he pointed it at the group of GiNNs.

"_**Who dies first?**_" he growled out before closing the channel.

Jaden rose an eyebrow as he glanced at the Duo, then back at the Tempest. '_Is there someone else in Hisanaga's machine?_' He thought, just before he saw several more machines jump out of the factory, only two of which were transmitting ZAFT IFF's.

He growled a bit '_This isn't good..._' he thought, '_We didn't come prepared for this, Intel screwed us over yet again. We're gonna need a lot more help with these guys than what we have now._'

"Miguel, Athrun, Rusty, we're pulling back to the _Vesalius,_" he ordered, surprising the others. "We don't have the firepower to take these things on, _and _we're out numbered. We can't risk losing what machines we have now."

"_Understood..._" Athrun said, however Jaden noticed the slight amount of fear in his voice "_R-Returning to the ship._"

While the two G-Weapons launched, Jaden glared at the Duo before he turned on his own open comm "This fight isn't over yet, Ryu Hisanaga!" he shouted. "I'm not fighting you when you appear to have a wounded passenger... but next time, it's just gonna be _you _and _me._ And I'll take your suit's head as a souvenir!" With that said, Jaden turned the GiNN around, and the remaining GiNN's withdrew from the airspace with Athrun and Rusty's G-Weapons.

However, on the ground, Matthew and Amy heard the voice, and their eyes were wide. '_No... that... there's no way..._' Matthew thought. '_That...couldn't have been him..._'

'_Jaden-nii... it can't be..._' Amy thought, horror on her face. '_H-He's in ZAFT?_'

Ryu's eyes narrowed as he looked at the retreating unit. "I'll be waiting," he informed coldly.

'_He won't be facing you alone, Demon,_' Takeshi thought. '_If I know my Imouto, she'll join him permanently in that suit, and I'll fight alongside him to help keep her safe._' Activating a Comm Channel to the other Machines, he said, "This is the TXG-103 Tempest. GAT-X105 Strike, GAT-X130 Templar, GAT-X221 Viral, respond on this channel."

"_T-This is Amy,_" Amy's voice came through the radio, seeming rather shaky. "_I'm in the... the Viral. Everything's looking good so far..._"

"_Matt here,_" Matthew said, his voice seeming calm but there was a slight shake to his voice. "_Templar is good to go._"

"_This is Murrue Ramius in the Strike,_" came the voice of a slightly older woman. "_I'm having some trouble moving this thing..._"

"Roger that," Takeshi replied, keeping an eye on the Duo as it set down in a Park. "It seems like the enemy has withdrawn for now. I'm sending you all the coordinates of the other machine that's still out of ZAFT Control, the Duo." A glowing blip appeared on their screens, indicating the park in question. "We'll regroup there, and then I get the feeling we'll be needing a question-and-answer session."

Ryu, meanwhile, was busy ensuring Kira was alright before grabbing the med kit stashed behind the seats, and he then carried her out of the Duo and over to a park bench, where he immediately set upon cleaning the wound. "The bullet's lodged in there," He whispered in realization as the others started to arrive. "Kira, I'm going to have to remove the bullet, now the med kit has some morphine so I'm going to give you some before starting, alright?"

"All right..." Kira replied. "Ryu... I'm sorry about worrying you like this..."

"If anyone should be apologizing, Kira, it should be me," Ryu countered with a sad look in his eyes. "My carelessness got you hurt. I promise, Kira, I'll make sure you'll get out of here just fine."

"Thank you, Ryu..." Kira said as Ryu set to work.

The Tempest set down at that moment, its Phase Shift Deactivating as it powered down, and the hatch opened, Takeshi leaping out and running over to Ryu and Kira. "Imouto! Are you alright?" Takeshi asked.

"Take-nii..." Kira said as the morphine started to kick in. "I... I'll be fine..."

Takeshi smiled a bit before turning to Ryu as Matthew, Amy, Cagalli, and Murrue walked up. "What happened, Ryu?"

"I told her to get to the Duo while I provided covering fire from the catwalks," Ryu explained tersely as he sterilized his combat knife. "It was a stupid decision, I thought that since she was dressed as a civilian they would just ignore her. I should have gone down first, _dammit._"

"It's not your fault, Ryu," Takeshi replied. "I would have done the same thing in your position. I promise you this, though: When I find the soldier who shot her, he is going to die slowly if he isn't dead yet."

Takeshi then turned to the others. "So, I said we were probably going to need a question-and-answer session once we'd landed, didn't I?" he said. "Who wants to ask the first question?"

Matthew and Amy were the first, as they stepped forward and looked at Ryu, Matthew speaking first. "Ryu..." he said, looking at him dead in the eye. "I _know _that voice, that was Jaden's voice! Why the _hell _is my little brother in ZAFT, and why the _hell_ does he want to kill you!"

"I can't answer the first part, as for the second, it is because his commanding officer is another notch on my kill count," Ryu answered as he turned back to Kira and made a small incision to remove the bullet. "Honestly, I believe him to be a fool. No matter their ranking, _every _soldier understands the risk of entering the battlefield. Your brother should have realize this a long time ago, after all, he himself has ended the lives of the precious people of others."

Amy didn't take that very well, however, as she glared at Ryu. "I _know _Jaden, he knows that just as good as anyone!" She shouted. "Dad died during the Mandelbrot Incident! He'd never kill anyone in cold blood! He'd only kill if he had too!"

Ryu didn't look up as he used a pair of tweezers to extract the bullet. "Yeah? Tell that to the people who fell to him during the war," He said in a cold voice. "After all, he's the Demon of Endymion."

Hearing that, both of the Takeo siblings paled. "W-What...?" Amy asked. "D-Demon o-of Endymion?"

"J-Jaden's the number 4 top ace in ZAFT?" Matt asked with wide eyes. He had heard stories about the Demon of Endymion, during the battle he was accountable for the destruction of one _Agamemnon-_class Space Carrier, Five _Nelson-_class Battleships, dozens of _Drake-_class escorts and Dozens of Moebius mobile armors, including a few Moebius Zero's. He also heard a rumor that he fought toe-to-toe with the Dragon of Endymion when he went on his berserk rage, and was the only one who fought him and lived before the Cyclops went off.

"That he is," Takeshi replied. "I don't know what he was like when you knew him, but I doubt that he is the exact same person now. Rare is the soldier who retains his humanity in war, rarer still is the one who emerges completely unchanged." He then sighed. No use trying to hide it anymore. "To be honest, I actually fought your brother in one of the battles at Nova, when ZAFT was bringing it to the PLANTs to turn it into Boaz."

At Matthew and Amy's shocked expressions, Takeshi continued, "I never told you what my job was, did I? The main reason for that is I didn't want Imouto to worry about me. No sense hiding it anymore, though. I'm the one they call the Azure Tempest of Terminal."

Amy couldn't believe what she was hearing. "No... this... this isn't..." she said, a few tears welling up in her eyes. "This isn't like Jaden-nii at all! He only would fight if he had to! He hated killing! This... this..."

"Like I said, War changes people," Takeshi replied. "Especially a war started with a frakking _**nuclear massacre!**_ It's entirely probable that your brother saw the Bloody Valentine first-hand! Do you think he'd be able to walk away from _**that**_ exactly the same as he was before it happened? _**Do you?!**_"

Matthew, Amy, and the others were taken aback by Takeshi's sudden outburst. "I..." Amy said, that's all she could say after Takeshi's last outburst.

Takeshi sighed. "I saw a live newsfeed of the Bloody Valentine as it happened," he said. "My desire to never see something like that happen again was why I signed up with Terminal. I try to avoid killing on any of my jobs, but I know that it can be unavoidable at times. And I would kill without hesitation in order to keep my sister and her friends-including you two-safe. If that's what happened to me, seeing it on the news, imagine what it would be like for someone living in the PLANTs, like your brother. No one could walk away from something like that unchanged."

Matthew sighed "Yeah but... Jaden..." he said, "I mean, I lost my Fiance during the Bloody Valentine, but I didn't become revenge obsessed! I moved to Orb to get away from the war! This... this doesn't make sense..."

"Maybe you can ask him yourself if you get a chance," Takeshi replied, before turning back to Ryu and Kira. "I'm sorry for keeping my career a secret from you for so long, Imouto-I didn't want you to worry about me."

Kira shook her head slowly as Ryu gently stitched her wound closed with a needle and thread before wrapping some gauze around it. "Don't... worry... Take-nii," she said with a smile, obviously out of it due to the morphine injection. "I... understand..."

Takeshi nodded. "Thank you, Imouto," he said before turning back to Matthew, Amy, Cagalli, and Murrue. "So, any other questions?"

"Yeah, exactly how do you know all of this?" Cagalli asked, as she pointed to Ryu. "Who exactly are you?"

Ryu looked up at them with cold eyes. "Ryu Hisanaga _is _my real name," He assured as he stood. "However, there are some things attached to it that will probably help you connect the dots better, I am Ryu Hisanaga, the _first _Coordinator Ace of the EA and the Dragon of Endymion."

"And as far as I'm concerned," Takeshi added, "despite what quite a few people say about him, he is one of the lucky ones who has managed to retain his humanity, even considering what he's experienced... and what he's lost."

Ryu snorted. "Whatever Humanity was left," he muttered under his breath.

Takeshi heard him, though. "You're more human than some of your superiors in the EA were, Ryu. After all, you told me once that when you heard about the Nukes at Junius Seven, you did all you could to stop them. That alone tells me just how much humanity you still have."

Ryu looked over to Takeshi with almost dead looking eyes. "Takeshi, I appreciate what you are saying, but trust me when I say this, I lost much of my humanity before I even enlisted," he announced, turning on his heel and heading for the Duo. "You all better make sure that if you're going to fight, that your suits are ready for it."

Takeshi nodded. "Ryu has a point, there-we have no clue as to when we'll be going into battle next, so we'd better make sure our machines are ready to go. Miss Ramius, you said you were having problems moving the Strike?"

"Yes..." Murrue replied, still somewhat shocked as to how the conversation had gone. "Our Natural-Use OS hasn't been completed yet..."

"Take-nii... my laptop..." Kira called out drowsily from her position on the bench. "File Program... AD-NUOS."

Takeshi went to his sister's bag and retrieved her laptop, quickly booting it up and opening the requisite file. His eyes slowly widened as he looked the file over. "Holy..." he said. "This... this looks like an actual Natural-Use OS! I remember hearing that your professor was placed in charge of designing one for the G-Weapons, but never could get it to work... When did you make this, Imouto?"

"Been a... self project... wanted to... give it to... Morgenroete... for ORB's defenders..." Kira explained, her eyelids drooping. "Princess... please use it... to protect ORB..."

Cagalli's eyes widened, her natural urge to correct people who called her 'princess' overridden by what Kira seemed to be saying. "Is she saying..."

"...that she wants you to use the OS she designed? I believe so," Takeshi replied, sticking a blank data card into the laptop and copying Kira's Natural-Use OS onto it. Once the OS was copied, Takeshi ejected the card and then handed it to Cagalli. "From what I read when going over the file, it'll automatically override the existing OS of whatever machine it's installed in. All you need to do is select which machine you want to use and insert the card into its computer."

Cagalli almost reverently picked up the data card, before heading towards the Strike.

Matthew and Amy glanced at one another, before they sighed. "We should get our units ready too," Matt said. "I think ZAFT could come back soon... and if they do and Jaden's with them... just let us handle it. "

"Right," Takeshi replied. He then turned to Murrue. "Do you have any questions for me personally, Miss Ramius?"

"What's Terminal's _true _interest here?" She asked suspiciously. "True you were hired to escort us, but what is your _real _purpose here?"

"Honestly?" Takeshi replied. "Well, that comes in the form of our payment. My machine over there, the Tempest, is the first part of said payment. Developed in conjunction with your machines, but designed and tuned specifically for my combat style. The rest comes in two parts: monetary payment for me once I get you to either Alaska or Ptolemaios, and performance data on your machines, which could be used to further upgrade Terminal's existing MS arsenal. We like trying to stay one step ahead of the competition."

Murrue nodded her understanding before looking over to Kira. "And her? Is she a member of Terminal as well?" she asked. "To be able to create a Natural-Use OS like she did completely on her own..."

"No, she isn't part of Terminal, not yet at least," Takeshi replied, smiling fondly at Kira. "She's my younger sister, and a programming student here on Heliopolis... although calling her a 'student' downplays her skills, she is the most talented programmer in the Earth Sphere. She's also Ryu's girlfriend, and cares about as deeply for him as he does for her."

"Speaking of Ryu..." Murrue said, looking over towards the Duo, "I should be arresting him on the spot for desertion to stand trial..."

"One, I doubt you'd be able to," Takeshi said. "He's skilled enough that he could take you down pretty dang quickly. And two, if you did arrest him, Imouto would probably hack the daylights out of your computer system-according to Ryu, she could hack both the EA Mainframe and ZAFT Mainframe at the same time. It's probably better if you just let him be-he's been through alot, and originally came here to get away from the war. Unfortunately, it seems the war has found him again, and he's not going to have much choice but to throw himself back into the thick of it."

"My commanding officer often spoke highly of him," Murrue admitted. "A stark contrast to any other Admiral or High Ranking officer."

"He says he lost his humanity before he enlisted, but part of me believes it's merely buried deep down inside him," Takeshi remarked. "And I believe Imouto is the only one who can truly bring it out again."

Murrue didn't reply for a minute as she recalled something. "Admiral Halberton once said this to me about Ryu: He is the result of a man's hubris and obsession over legacy, an obsession that cost Ryu his childhood... and created a dark mark in human history..." She revealed, a confused look on her face. "I think I can see what he meant when I saw those eyes of his when they were so... lifeless."

"I wouldn't know about the 'dark mark in human history'," Takeshi remarked, "but I do know that he's happier with Imouto than he is anywhere else, and heaven help anyone who tries to take them apart." He shook his head. "Anyway, we should probably make preparations of our own-we have no idea when ZAFT will attack again, after all..."

Murrue sighed and nodded, turning to the civilians to instruct them in what they needed to do, as Takeshi walked back over to the Tempest, getting back into the cockpit and making a few final tweaks to ensure that the Tempest was well and truly adapted to his style.

_Meanwhile, inside the colony_

"DAMNIT, LE CREUSET!" Mu shouted as he flew his Moebius Zero through the narrow interior of the colony, while in a duel with his rival, Rau Le Creuset, who was in his white custom CGUE. "I didn't think you would actually attack a _neutral _colony!"

The White masked commander said nothing as he simply fired his CGUE's shield vulcan at the Zero, destroying Mu's last functioning Gunbarrel, causing him to curse as he jettisoned it to avoid the entire unit being destroyed. Suddenly Rau shot ahead of Mu, destroying the wall in front of them, which lead into the living area of the Colony...

_Meanwhile, with Ryu and the others_

Eventually, Ryu and the others managed to regroup with Sai, Mir, Tolle, and Kuzzey, who couldn't seem to have found a Shelter for them to use. They put them to work, with Sai and Tolle gathering the Number 5 trailer, which contained one of the Striker Packs for the Strike.

Soon, the two aforementioned students returned, driving a Morgenroete Truck which was carrying a trailer with the number 5 on it. "This the one you wanted, Takeshi?" Sai shouted out.

"That's the one, all right," Takeshi called back. "Cagalli, can you bring the Strike next to the Trailer? Miss Ramius, I'll let you oversee mounting the Striker Pack."

Cagalli nodded as she moved towards the Strike. However just as she began to enter the cockpit, there was a large explosion causing everyone to dart their heads up, just as they saw a Moebius Zero and a white CGUE soar into the colony.

"Oh shit, ZAFT's here!" Matt shouted as he and Amy rushed towards their mobile suits.

Takeshi ran to the Tempest, even as he called out, "Miss Ramius, Cagalli, hurry and get that Pack mounted!"

'_Only one pilot I know of flies a Moebius Zero at this point,_' he thought to himself as he leapt into the Tempest, '_and that's the Hawk of Endymion, Mu la Flaga. And I'd recognize that white CGUE anywhere-Rau le Creuset, the White Duelist. This is going to be an interesting fight._'

He then started up the Tempest, looking over the readouts. '_75% power remaining-good thing the swords and Phase Shift don't drain too much. It'd probably be better if I stuck with the swords and limited the Exia to Sword Mode._'

He then activated the Tempest's Phase Shift and took off, intent on supporting the Hawk and hoping the others would join him soon.

He didn't have long to wait as the Duo was in the air right beside him, its own Phase Shift active. "_Right behind you, Takeshi,_" Ryu informed. "_Thankfully the Duo is able to be used with only a single pilot, not to mention the _two _battery packs it uses._"

"Glad to hear it, Ryu," Takeshi replied. "You'll probably need a co-pilot for future battles, though, and I think we both know who the best option would be in that case... as much as I don't want to get her involved in this war..."

"_Neither do I,_" Ryu assured, his voice heavy. "_The life of a soldier... she's not suited for it..._"

"But you and I both know that's not our call to make," Takeshi added. "It's hers... and if she chooses to join you, there's nothing we can do to stop her..."

"_... I hope she doesn't..._" Ryu replied honestly before focusing on the battle that they were about to engage in.

"So do I," Takeshi remarked. '_But I have a hunch that she will..._' he thought to himself before charging the CGUE, slashing with the Exia in an attempt to remove the CGUE's Shield Arm.

As the CGUE moved out of the way, Ryu came streaking in from the flank, ramming into the unit with his shield and sending the CGUE tumbling before following up with a barrage from his beam rifle.

Takeshi then set up a comm channel with the Zero, even as he charged the CGUE again. "TXG-103 Tempest calling Moebius Zero," he called out. "Need a hand, Hawk?"

"_Certainly been awhile, eh, la Flaga?_" Ryu piped in.

"_Takeshi! Ryu!_" Mu said in a mixture of surprise and gratefulness. "_Am I glad to see the two of you here!_"

"The feeling's mutual, Hawk," Takeshi replied. "Last time we flew together was when I was hired for that battle at Nova, I believe. But we can reminisce later-want a hand sending that Bastard packing?"

"_I'll drink to that!_" Mu said in agreement as he swooped down at Rau, firing his linear cannon as Ryu started firing with his beam rifle, keeping Rau moving and preventing his counterattacks.

Takeshi took advantage of the distractions provided by Ryu and Mu to close to melee range again, slicing the CGUE's Shield Arm off with his Exia, thus robbing the CGUE of some of its firepower.

Inside of the CGUE, Rau bit back a curse as he surveyed the area, down below was a collection of the remaining G-Weapons that they had failed to capture along with a sizable group of civilians, he would have loved to take the opportunity to destroy the machines, but being pressed by the EA current Top Ace, the previous Top Ace _and _one of Terminal's major aces all at once was a rather daunting task. Firing off a wide spray of shots, he put some distance between himself and his opponents. "I would love to stay and play our little game, but unfortunately I have to end our little game here!" Rau shouted out over an open comm line before launching himself towards the exit at high speeds.

Takeshi's eyes narrowed as he watched Rau leave. "We'll be waiting, _teme_..." he replied, "we'll be waiting..." He then turned towards Ryu and said, "Ryu, do you think you could grab the arm I chopped off of Rau's CGUE? Might be a good idea to see if we can equip that Shield onto one of the G-Weapons, or even enhance it."

"_Got it._" Ryu confirmed as he snatched the arm before heading towards the ground to link up with the others.

Takeshi then turned to the Zero. "Care to join us on the ground, Hawk? We could probably use your help."

"_Sounds better than just flying around waiting for my energy battery to run dry._" Mu said dryly as he followed the pair down towards the park.

Takeshi smiled as he brought the Tempest in for a landing next to the Duo.

However, before any of the machines could land, there was a massive explosion, causing everyone to look just in time, as a massive white ship soared over them, coming from inside the colony.

Takeshi looked in awe at the ship soaring above them. "The _Archangel_..." he whispered in awe. "Somehow, I knew it would survive the attack." He then set up a comm channel with the ship and said, "This is TXG-103 Tempest calling _Archangel_, do you read?"

"_This is Natarle Badgiruel of the _Archangel!" Came the response. "_Thank god there's someone left!_"

"Good to hear from you, Miss Badgiruel," Takeshi replied. "ZAFT's managed to make off with a majority of the G-Weapons, but we've managed to retain control of my machine, the Duo, the Strike, the Templar, and the Viral. Requesting permission to bring our machines aboard, along with several people who have given us a hand."

"_Granted, we're opening the Hangar doors now._" Badgiruel informed as the others landed to gather up their friends.

Matthew and Amy gathered Sai, Mir, Tolle and Kuzzey into the Templar and Viral's hands, as they launched back into the air, and towards the _Archangel._

Takeshi gathered Murrue into the Tempest's hands before following, with Ryu taking Kira in the Duo and Cagalli using the Strike to help the damaged Moebius Zero into the hangar.

Once they had all landed in the _Archangel's_ starboard hangar, Takeshi lowered Murrue to the deck before exiting his machine and joining her as several EA personnel ran up to them.

"Lieutenant Ramius!" Natarle called out as she came up to the group. "It's good to see you're alive."

"You as well, Ensign Badgiruel," Murrue replied. "I'm pleased that you managed to protect the _Archangel_."

"Good to see you again, Miss Badgiruel," Takeshi added. "The circumstances aren't quite what I was expecting, but at least we're able to meet like this in the first place."

Natarle nodded as she looked the group over. Looking up to the Duo, her eyes widened in shock as she saw Ryu descending from the cockpit with Kira in his arms. "It's him! Ryu Hisanaga! Arrest him!" She shouted out to the security force.

Takeshi's gun was out before they could even move. "I wouldn't if I were you," he said. "One, we need all the pilots we can get at the moment, and he's one of the best pilots I know. Two, I doubt you could take him, even encumbered as he is with my Imouto. Three, if you did, my Imouto would hack your government's mainframes six ways from Sunday because of how much she cares for him. And that leads to four: I'm not going to let you arrest him and take him away from her simply because of how he left your military. In fact, I'm willing to use my authority as a Terminal Combat Agent to place him under my authority and protection if it means it'll get you off of his back."

"Stand down!" Murrue barked out in a surprisingly stern voice. "Ensign, you need to learn how to look outside of the box in situations like this, we are in the middle of an ORB colony, of which I have no doubt he is a citizen of, but he and his friends are the ones who saved the remaining G-Weapons _and _fought off _two _ZAFT Ace Pilots. We owe them."

"Speaking of which," Ryu said in a cool voice, getting their attention. "I'd like Kira here to be looked at by your doctor, I got the bullet removed, but I just want to make sure she'll make a full recovery."

Takeshi nodded, putting his gun away. "That sounds like a plan to me, Ryu," he said. "I'll go with you, too, both to make sure that she'll be fine myself and to make sure no one _**else**_ gets any funny ideas. And Miss Badgiruel, I'd recommend getting the stick out of your arse before someone else does it for you and beats you over the head with it. Rules and Regulations have their time and place, but they are _**not**_ the be-all and end-all. _**Do I make myself clear?**_"

"I'd listen to them, if I were you," the voice of Mu La Flaga was heard, as he approached the group. "Trust me, you do _not _want Ryu Hisanaga to get pissed. It never ends well for the people who _got _him pissed. Just ask Rear Admiral Garcia."

"He should consider himself fortunate that he's still alive after what he did to her." Ryu said in a monotone voice, adjusting the sleeping Kira slightly. "And it goes to show you just how corrupt the Earth Alliance has become when a serial rapist can become a Rear Admiral."

"That's for sure," Takeshi remarked. "Miss Ramius, Miss Badgiruel, Hawk, I'll see the three of you on the Bridge later to discuss our options."

Ryu nodded to Mu who nodded back, clapping him on the shoulder as he moved past, following Takeshi to the Infirmary. "Takeshi, you didn't have to put yourself on the line like that," Ryu said as they walked through the hallways. "I could've just handed Kira off to you and left the _Archangel._"

"No way, Ryu," Takeshi replied. "Like I said, I'm not letting anyone tear the two of you apart in any way, shape, or form. She needs you, Ryu-she needs you to be truly happy, more than she'll ever need me, and probably more than she'll admit. And you need her, too. If I have to use my authority as a Terminal Combat Agent to keep you two together, I'll do it without hesitation."

Ryu remained silent for a minute before quietly whispering, "Thank you," to Takeshi.

"You're more than welcome, Ryu," Takeshi replied as they approached the medbay. "All I ask in return is that you make Kira happy, keep her safe... and maybe give me a niece or nephew someday."

Ryu smiled slightly as he looked down at the peaceful expression on Kira's face. "I'll do my best," He assured before they stepped into the medbay.

_Meanwhile, with ZAFT_

"So, in short, Intel screwed us over once again." Jaden explained as he, Athrun, Miguel, Ades and Rau were on the bridge of the _Vesalius._ "There are _way _more Prototypes than we anticipated, and the Dragon of Endymion is _here _with one of the prototypes. Not to mention the legged ship survived as well."

Rau sighed at the information. "It is indeed troubling," he said. "However, our mission remains the same. We _must _destroy the legged ship, and capture, failing at that destroy, the prototypes."

"Easier said than done Commander," Jaden said. "Their PS armor makes them impervious to almost everything our GiNN's and even your CGUE could dish out. The only weapons that will have _any _effect are energy weapons."

"Everything has its limits, Jaden," Rau said with a smile. "We simply need to hit them hard enough. We will issue out D-Type equipment to our GiNN's. That should be enough."

"D-Type!?" Jaden nearly shouted, while Athrun and Ades looked at their commander in shock. "Rau, you _know _an Island-3 Colony like Heliopolis can't take that kind of punishment! If we miss our shots, we could destroy the whole damn colony!"

"We _need _to destroy that ship," Rau sated a frown forming on his face. "If they make it to the moon, this war just got even longer than it already is and more people will die as a result of it."

"Then we _wait _for them to come to us!" Jaden said. "If we wait for them to _leave _the colony, like we _should _have from the beginning, we could've engaged them right there, and _not _have to hold back! Their Operating Systems have to still be in the early development stages, they would have been easy kills!"

"We have to strike now Jaden, if we don't they will remain holed up in there and the next thing we know we are getting swarmed over by the EA's Fleets and quite possibly ORB's as well," Rau countered logically. "We have no choice in the matter but to attack now."

Jaden just glared at Rau, before he simply stormed out of the bridge "Hey, Jaden, wait!" Miguel said as he followed Jaden as they left the bridge.

"I hate him so much!" Jaden said as he and Miguel passed through the halls of the _Vesalius._ "The closest EA or Orb fleets are weeks away from Heliopolis! And the shelters of Heliopolis might not be strong enough to save off D-Type weapons!"

"Yeah, but... what are we suppose to do?" Miguel asked, as Jaden sighed.

"I am _not _stooping to the EA's level and destroy a civilian colony." he said. "We are not using D-Type gear, Miguel. I want you to take one of my spare laser swords, and I'm going to mount Thermal Cannons on our GiNN's, they're the only weapons that are not classified as D-types that could damage their PS armor. We have to limit damage to the colony as much as we can."

"Alright, that sounds like a better idea." Miguel agreed with a sigh and a nod. "Wish we had more of those for everyone, though..."

Jaden sighed as they headed for the hanger. "So do I, Miguel," he said. "So do I."

_Meanwhile, _Archangel_'s Medbay_

Ryu sighed as he sat next to the bed Kira was sleeping on, the ship's doctor had looked her over and said that she was going to be completely fine, Ryu had extracted the bullet perfectly and the stitches were holding, she'll be sore for a while, but thankfully the bullet itself didn't do any damage to the muscles and had been stopped by her bones. Given her above average healing rate due to her coordinator heritage, she should fully regain her mobility in her arm by the time she woke up.

Ryu remained by her side even after Takeshi had left to go meet with the EA officers to plan out their strategy for escaping Heliopolis. '_Everything has gone downhill big time,_' Ryu thought as he watched over Kira. '_I wanted to just leave it all behind me, but my past will never leave me alone will it?_'

Kira groaned as she began to stir, breaking Ryu out of his thoughts. "Hey Kira," He greeted with a smile as her eyes opened up. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Ryu..." Kira whispered with a smile as his face came into focus. "Where are we?"

"The Earth Alliance ship _Archangel,_" Ryu informed as he took one of her hands into his own. "It's the Assault Carrier that was built alongside of the G-Weapons."

"Mm," Kira replied tiredly before looking up at Ryu. "I remember a little of when I was under the effects of Morphine... is it true that you're the Dragon of Endymion?"

Ryu was silent for a minute. "It is," He confirmed after a while his voice soft. "I was enlisted into the EA when I was sixteen, my dad used his connections as a Rear Admiral to get me into the EA and eventually I went into the Zero Corps due to my high levels of Spatial Awareness, my dad wanted the legacy of the Hisanaga's continued, which was also why I was born as a coordinator, just so the Legacy of the Hisanagas being the the best soldiers in the EA could continue. When Junius happened, however... I couldn't do it anymore, it was bad enough that my family was killed when our home was bombed by ZAFT, but the EA using Nukes... I just left, I didn't want to work for either side, so I left. I then became a citizen of ORB and... met you."

Kira smiled up at her boyfriend as she squeezed his hand. "Thank you for explaining it to me," she said kindly. "And... knowing you, you're worried about me leaving you now that I know the truth, right?" she asked, getting a surprised nod from Ryu. "Don't worry, I suspected you were a soldier of some kind, though admittedly, I thought you were a mercenary."

Ryu sighed as he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Thank you Kira." He whispered with a smile. "Thank you very much."

Kira simply smiled in return as the pair enjoyed the quiet moment while it lasted.

_Meanwhile, on the Bridge_

Takeshi walked onto the bridge to find Murrue in the Captain's Chair, with Mu and Natarle next to the chair. Surprisingly enough, Cagalli was there, too.

"Sorry if I'm late, Miss Ramius," he said. "And it's definitely good to see you again, Hawk."

"Takeshi," Mu greeted with a nod of his head. "They were just asking for some more info on Ryu, from the standpoint of someone who actually worked with him."

"Ah," Takeshi replied with a nod. "To be honest, I only got to know him after he moved to Heliopolis and began a relationship with my Imouto. I can say, though, that he had the look of someone who had been through the grinder and was looking for a new purpose to his life, which he found in my sister. And after he told me about his past, I could tell that he was someone who didn't want anything more to do with the battlefield, and Orb was his best bet. Unfortunately, it seems that war has found him once again, and he's gonna have to throw himself right back into the thick of it in order to survive." He then turned to Cagalli and asked, "Out of curiosity, what's the Tomboy doing here?"

Cagalli glared at Takeshi before answering, "You know damn well why I'm here!" She shot back, "Heliopolis is an _Orb _colony, meaning this is as much of a problem to me as it is to my father and the rest of Orb."

"Your father?" Mu asked as he looked her over.

Takeshi sighed. "Her full name is Cagalli Yula Athha," he replied. "She can also be called Lady Athha, Princess Athha, the Lioness of Orb, or That Girl Who Tends To Act Before She Thinks. Although Tomboy fits her pretty well, too."

The three EA officers choked on air as they looked at the scowling Princess. "The Princess of ORB?" Murrue managed to finally choke out. "Oh, _fuck!_"

Cagalli continued to glare at the EA officers. "Though I would _love _to find out _why _you decided to make your oh-so-beloved G-Weapons on _ORB TERRITORY,_" she growled out, "I suppose we have bigger problems, concerning how we're supposed to get out of this situation for when ZAFT comes back."

"She has a point," Takeshi remarked. "However, Miss Athha, I will say that you should look into the Seirans and Sahakus as likely candidates for why the G-Weapons were built here. The Seirans have always wanted closer connections to the EA, while the Sahakus are power-hungry enough to pursue a project like this on territory where they could easily reap their own benefits." He then shook his head briefly before saying, "Anyways, what's our situation?"

"Shit in a shit basket, to put it frankly," Mu said bluntly. "We _did _manage to save some of the G-Weapons, but none of the pilots survived." He looked at Takeshi. "Outside of yourself, the only pilot with any experience in mobile suit piloting is Ryu..."

"What about those children who piloted the G-Weapons in the first place?" Natarle asked. "They obviously seem to be able to pilot them."

If looks could kill, Natarle would be six feet under from the glare Cagalli was sending her way "Those _children _are Orb Citizens!" she shouted. "You have _NO RIGHT _to force them to do anything!"

"As much as I would hate to do this," Mu said with a sigh, catching their attention. "Let's _ask_ them to pilot the machines, we won't force them, but unless we get _somebody _in those machines we'll be up the creek without a paddle."

Cagalli looked at Mu, but not with the same harsh glare she gave Natarle. "What if I went out?" She asked, surprising most of the people on the bridge. "The Strike has a working Natural-Use O.S, I can pilot it."

"Thank you for your offer, Lady Cagalli," Murrue said gratefully. "We really _do _need all the help we can get."

"You can count me in, then, as well," Ryu announced as he walked into the bridge, with Kira right behind him. "I can pilot the Duo since I've already calibrated the OS for my preferences."

"I'll be operating the Duo with him," Kira announced, getting a surprised look from Ryu and a knowing one from Takeshi. "Don't even _think _of arguing with me Ryu."

Ryu sighed, but nodded his agreement nonetheless. "Alright, if you think you can handle I'll let you handle the piloting, I'll handle the DRAGOON System." He relented.

"Thank you very much, Imouto," Takeshi replied. "I know you're an incredible programmer, but something tells me you'll be a good Mobile Suit Pilot, too."

"Thanks, Take-nii," Kira said with a bright smile to her brother. "Ryu, can you take me to the Duo? I'd like to get familiarized with the controls."

"Sure, it's this way." Ryu confirmed with a soft smile before leading Kira out of the bridge and towards the hanger.

Mu stared at the pair as they disappeared through the doorway. "Heaven help the man who shot her," Mu stated. "He's going to learn the true meaning of pain when Ryu gets his hands on him."

"Which is nothing compared to what _**I'm**_ going to do to the guy," Takeshi replied. "Whoever hurt my Imouto is a Dead Man Walking... they just don't know it yet."

_Meanwhile, on the Vesalius_

As Athrun Zala headed to the cockpit of his captured Mobile Suit, the Aegis, in order to possibly take it out to confirm if Kira was indeed at Heliopolis, he suddenly had a chill run down his spine, and an urge to find the deepest cave he could find and hide out there until Hell froze over.

_Back on the _Archangel

"Anyway, I'm going to go talk to Matthew and Amy, see if they want to keep flying their Mobile Suits," Takeshi said. "Miss Ramius, you feel like helping me?"

"Of course I can," Murrue agreed as she stood. "If I'm going to be ordering them into combat, I should be the one to ask them for help."

"Right," Takeshi replied. "You should probably lead the way, because even though I know where the crew quarters are, I don't know which cabin you put them in."

"Right, this way please." Murrue said, leading Takeshi out of the room.

_Meanwhile, in Matt and Amy's quarters_

While Tolle and the others found a room for them to use, Amy and Matthew had found their own private room to discuss their recent revelation as to where and what their brother has been up to. Amy was sitting on the bed, hugging her legs tight to herself. "This... this doesn't make sense at all..." she said. "Jaden... the Demon of Endymion?"

Matthew sat on the bed opposite to his sister's, and sighed. "I know... but we both know that was _his _voice," he said. "And since Ryu and Takeshi confirmed it... we can't deny it... Jaden's in ZAFT now."

"But _Why?_" Amy said louder, a few tears brimming. "We _know _Jaden, he was angry with the EA when dad died at the Mandelbrot Incident, but he didn't go all up and arms against them! He knew that not everyone in the EA hates Coordinators!"

"That may be," Matt said. "And... maybe Jaden still thinks like that, but something had to have happened to cause him to join ZAFT and leave... Orb..." suddenly Matt's eyes widened. "Oh no..."

Amy blinked. "What is it?" She asked, as she lowered her legs.

"I understand now..." Matthew said. "Jaden... he must think we died! At the Bloody Valentine!"

Amy's eyes widened when her brother said that. "W-What?" she asked. "But... how... why would he...?"

"There was no way Jaden could have found out our shuttle to Junius 7 malfunctioned before it launched." he said, "As much as he knew, our shuttle was on time and reached junius 7 at the time of the attack... and the fact Kelsey died in the attack, and we haven't been able to contact or find him since the attack..." He then suddenly sat down on his bed. "It's my fault..." he said. "I should've tried harder to find him... Dammit, I should have tried to tell him we were still alive!"

"I see," came Takeshi's voice from the doorway, causing them to turn to see both him and Murrue standing there. "Thinking that his whole family was dead would probably cause him to hate the ones who supposedly killed them..."

"What's up, Takeshi?" Matthew asked.

"I'm here, because I wish to ask you to pilot the G-Weapons you've managed to prevent from falling into ZAFT hands," Murrue stated stepping forward. "I know that this is a lot to ask with everything that is going on, but we need all the help we can get in order to protect this Colony from ZAFT's attacks."

"You won't be going out alone," Takeshi added. "I'll be there in the Tempest, Cagalli will be in the Strike, and Ryu and Kira will be flying the Duo together. But as Murrue said, we need all the help we can get.

"We won't force you if you don't want to fight," Takeshi continued, "but we would be exceedingly grateful if you would be willing to fight with us."

Matthew and Amy exchanged glances, and the two simply nodded their heads at one another before Amy stood up. "We'll do it," Matthew said. "Jaden _will _be here in the next attack, we know that for certain. Just let us handle him, Takeshi."

"All right," Takeshi replied. "Just don't believe that you'll be able to talk him into surrendering or even defecting. If he truly does believe that you are dead, he might believe that you're impostors, or that you were captured and brainwashed, fighting against your will. And even if he instinctually realizes that you are alive and fighting of your own accord, he probably still won't turn on his fellow ZAFT soldiers."

Matthew nodded. "I know... but that won't stop me from at least trying." He said, "Just leave him to us, and don't get involved unless we need your help Takeshi."

Takeshi nodded. "All right," he said. "Now, if you're going to be flying again, you'll need to put on Normal Suits this time, just to be safe. I'll lead you two to the Locker Room so you can each get a Normal Suit."

Suddenly, alarms started going off all throughout the ship "_Attention: All hands to Battlestations!_" Natarle's voice was heard. "_ZAFT Mobile suits are approaching!_"

"Dammit," Takeshi muttered. "No time to get Normal Suits, I guess. Miss Ramius, you should probably get back to the Bridge. Matthew, Amy, let's go!"

_Meanwhile, in the Hanger_

Ryu had been occupied teaching Kira how to operate a mobile suit when the alert rang through the ship. "Crap, buckle up, Kira!" Ryu ordered as he jumped into the secondary seat meant for controlling the DRAGOON units stored aboard the Duo. "This is Ryu Hisanaga and Kira Yamato in the Duo, we're good for launch!"

"_Understood, proceed to the launch pad!_" One of the Bridge officers replied as Kira disengaged the magnetic clamps to the Duo and moved it to the launch pad where the beam rifle and shield came out and attached themselves to the arms. The catapult doors opened as it charged up and the red lights turned green. "_Duo, you are cleared for launch!_"

"Roger that!" Kira confirmed. "Kira Yamato and Ryu Hisanaga in the Duo Gundam, launching!"

Their backs slammed against their seats as the G-forces pressed against them as they hurtled down the catapult and experienced a moment of freefall before the thrusters kicked in and got them level. "Nicely done, Kira," Ryu complimented as he brought up the DRAGOON control unit and prepared to launch them. "Thankfully the gravity in the center of the Colony is minimal so I'll be able to use the DRAGOON units."

"Right." Kira said in understanding as she got the hang of actually moving the mobile suit. "This really isn't all that hard to get a hang of, actually."

Ryu smirked behind her as he heard her say that. "Takeshi was right, you are a natural at this, Kira." He complimented, causing her to blush slightly. "Focus on getting us into position, Kira."

"Right!"

_Meanwhile, ZAFT attack force_

Jaden lead the attack group of Mobile Suits, consisting of 15 GiNN's all with D-Type Equipment ranging from Ion Cannons to Anti-Ship missiles, along with his and Miguel's custom GiNN's which were now refitted with JDP8-MSY0270 directed thermal energy cannons on their suits right shoulders, and NOL-Y941 heavy laser swords on their sides, with Jaden having two replacing his Katana Swords, while Miguel only had one. Along with them was Athrun in the X303 Aegis. Once the data transfer was complete, Jaden convinced Rau to send Athrun into combat with the Aegis, in order to fight the EA in the colony. Rau said he was interested in seeing what two G-Weapons could do in a fight against one another.

Jaden glanced at the Aegis as it flew on his right flank, with Miguel in his Custom orange GiNN on his left flank. '_G-Weapon... Gundam..._' he thought as he remembered looking through the data on the G-Weapons, and remembered the Acronym on the G-Weapon's start-up screen. '_So, you still work in Morgenroete, mom, and you used my model for inspiration._'

He then sighed as they flew through the central support pillar of the colony, and into its interior habitat. "Tally Ho people, the legged shipis there, and launching its mobile suits." he said on the radio. "Remember: You are using D-Type gear, one missed shot can seriously damage the colony, so check your damn fire! Try to focus on the ship, we destroy that and their suits will have to run out of power eventually, and its a hard target to miss!"

"_Yes, sir!_" came the reply of most of the grunts.

As they cleared through the habitat, one of the GiNN's was suddenly struck by a reddish blur that punched through the cockpit killing the pilot but leaving the suit intact before darting away returning over to where a small group of mobile suits were waiting in front of the Legged Ship.

"There they are..." Jaden said, narrowing his eyes at the Duo. "Engage the Mobile Suits and the legged ship! Remember, check your damn fire before you shoot! Leave the lead ones to Me, Miguel, and Athrun."

The GiNN's all split off into different approach vectors, while Jaden lead Athrun and Miguel towards the two mobile suits that Takeshi, Ryu, and Kira piloted.

'_You're mine now Hisanaga..._' Jaden thought as he activated his energy swords, and approached the Duo. However, warning alarms went off, as he darted his head up just in time to see two of the other G-Weapons attack him. "Stay out of this!" He shouted as he charged towards them with his swords.

_Earlier, with the _Archangel's_ G-Weapons_

"Here they come," Takeshi remarked as the Tempest, Duo, Strike, Templar, and Viral all gathered in front of the _Archangel_. The Strike had been equipped with its Sword Pack and the Templar had its melee equipment, as well, to avoid excess damage to the Colony. "Looks like in addition to the Demon of Endymion, we have the Magic Bullet of Dusk, the Aegis, and 15 regular GiNNs... What the Frak?! Those GiNNs are using Heavy Artillery meant for taking out Bases! Does that _teme_ le Creuset actually plan to use that level of firepower _**here?!**_"

"_It doesn't look like Jaden or that Orange GiNN have those weapons..._" Matthew said. "_So, what's our first move?_"

"Okay, as planned, Matthew and Amy will take on the Demon of Endymion," Takeshi replied. "Remember that he'll be gunning for Ryu and the Duo, though, so you'll need to do your absolute best to keep his attention on you. I'll handle the Magic Bullet-always wanted a rematch after our battle at Nova ended in a draw. Ryu, Imouto, you can take on the grunts-that's what the DRAGOONs are for, and will help Imouto get some needed battle experience. Lady Athha, you'll take the Aegis-just keep him busy until one of us finishes up and can come support you. Everyone ready?"

"_Leave the grunts to us,_" Ryu confirmed as the full DRAGOON armament of the Duo launched and started swarming the GiNNs as Kira dove the Duo into battle using a heat shotel as the Duo's Beam Rifle was actually more powerful than the average one.

"_I'm on it,_" Cagalli added as she went to engage the Aegis, drawing the Sword Striker's Schwert Gewehr Anti-Ship Blade as she did so.

"Then let's do it!" Takeshi replied as he charged Miguel's GiNN, Exia snapping into Sword Mode as he did so.

_With Kira and Ryu_

Kira was panting slightly as her hands expertly handled the controls of the mobile suit seemingly of their own accord as her eyes flashed all around them, keeping track of the GiNNs and the system updates from the Duo's systems.

Ryu's own hands danced over the controls as he watched his DRAGOON units fly around, some of them piercing through the enemy units while others entrapped and destroyed them in a net of beam fire. "This is really something, eh, Kira?" He asked as a grin started to form on his face. "One person flies and fights with the mobile suit, and the second controls the DRAGOON units."

"Yeah, it really is something," Kira agreed, her own grin forming as she swerved around a missile fired by one of the GiNNs and peppered it with the Duo's Igelstellungs, destroying it. "But we've still got work to do."

"No doubt about it," Ryu agreed.

_With Cagalli_

The Strike's Schwert Gewehr clashed with the Aegis' Beam Sabers again, Cagalli letting out a wordless shout as she pushed forward, sending the Aegis off-balance.

"You're not doing any more damage to this Colony!" she yelled, drawing and throwing the Midas Messer Beam Boomerang at the Aegis, forcing it to dodge.

_With Takeshi_

Takeshi brought the Exia in for another slash, the blade countering Miguel's weapon. He had to admit that he was rather enjoying this.

It seemed that the Magic Bullet's skills had improved since they last fought. However, so had Takeshi's. And with Takeshi in a special machine tailored to his style and Miguel in a customized GiNN, it was really no contest.

Eventually, Takeshi managed to knock Miguel's laser sword away, and then used his machine's free hand to grab the GiNN's shoulder, initiating a direct contact link between the two units. "You're pretty good, Magic Bullet of Dusk," he said. "You've actually gotten better since we fought to a draw at Nova, and I honestly believe you have the skills to be a proper challenge to me. But as long as I'm in a machine which was custom-built for my style, you don't stand a chance in that customized GiNN. Come back when you have a custom-built machine of your own, and then we'll settle which one of us is the superior pilot." He then let go of the GiNN, disconnecting the contact link, and used the Exia to sever the GiNN's arms and legs, leaving just the torso and head unit. The orange GiNN fled, unable to do anything else, but Takeshi did not pursue, instead turning to give Cagalli a hand against the Aegis.

_With Jaden, Matthew, and Amy_

Jaden growled as his laser swords connected with the beam sabers of the Templar Gundam. "Stay out of my way!" He shouted as he saw the Viral approach from behind, however he kicked the machine away before he spun his machine around and kicked the Templar back as well. Jaden then charged towards the Viral, intent on slicing the unit in half. "Take this!"

"_JADEN, WAIT!_" a female voice shouted on the comm, the voice causing Jaden's eyes to widen as he suddenly froze as did his GiNN, the laser sword lying dangerously close to the torso of the Viral.

'_T-That... that voice..._' he thought. '_No that... it can't..._'

The lasers on the swords suddenly deactivated, however his GiNN still looked at the Viral. "Who are you, and why do you sound like my sister?" Jaden demanded.

"_J-Jaden-nii... it's me!_" The voice of Amy said again. "_Me! Amy! Your sister!_"

"No... no you... You can't be her!" Jaden shouted. "You're dead-she's dead! Along with my brother, they're all dead!"

"_Jaden, we're not dead, we're right here!_" Amy pleaded. "_We weren't in the colony when it was destroyed, our shuttle broke down!_"

"_Jaden... she's telling the truth._" Matthew's voice said, as the Templar floated next to them. "_We're not dead... we're right here._"

"M-Matt?" Jaden croaked out. "No... no you can't... w-what the hell are you two doing here!"

"_We should be asking you that Jaden,_" Matthew said. "_Why are _you _in ZAFT?_"

"Wha-what the hell are you talking about?" Jaden shouted. "You should know damn well why! Does the EA firing fucking _NUKES _at a _COLONY _mean anything to you!"

"_Jaden, you said you never wanted to take sides in the war!_" Amy said. "_You hated how everyone was making a big deal on Coordinators, you wanted to stay in Orb!_"

"And what, just sit back and watch while the EA tries to wipe out millions of people?" Jaden shouted back. "And you're one to talk, Amy, Matt! What the _Hell _are you working for the Earth Alliance!"

"_We're not!_" Matthew said. "_We were living here at Heliopolis! Then ZAFT attacked, and we ended up in these mobile suits because we need to defend the colony and our friends! We're not working with the EA... but why are you here, and attacking Orb! Orb is your _home!"

Jaden was silent, trying to take in all of this information at once. "I... Our targets are the Gundams and the Legged Ship," Jaden said. "We wanted to... destroy the ship, and capture the machines with as little damage to the colony as possible... but Rau convinced most of the pilots to use D-Type gear..."

He then looked at the Templar and Viral. "Amy... Matt... if you really are who you say you are... stay out of my way." He reignited his lasers. "We're just going to destroy the legged ship. I don't _want _to fight you, but if I have to I won't hold back... my only target is the Legged Ship... and _Hisanaga._"

"We can't let you do that Jaden..." Matthew said, as he activated a beam saber of the Templar. "Some of our friends are still on the _Archangel,_ and we have to protect them. And Ryu is our friend too."

Before Jaden could form a retort, the alarms on his GiNN went off, as he looked and saw one of the other GiNN's armed with "Canus" missile launchers fired off its payload towards the legged Ship, which apparently as said by his siblings was called the _Archangel._ Though the ships' CIWS guns destroyed two of the missiles, the other two soared forward, but they missed the legged ship...

...and slammed right into the central shaft of the colony, destroying it.

_With Takeshi_

Takeshi had almost reached Cagalli, to help her drive off the Aegis, when something compelled him to look in the direction of the _Archangel_.

His eyes widened when he saw the missiles hit the colony's central shaft.

"No..." he whispered, horrified. "The Colony..."

_With Cagalli_

"No..." Cagalli breathed, her battle with the Aegis giving her the perfect vantage point to the collapsing central shaft.

_With Ryu and Kira_

"No! The Colony!" Kira shouted out in a panic as the central support collapsed.

"Dammit!" Ryu cursed out, slamming his fist against the console. "Kira brace yourself! We're going to be getting hit by a massive amount of turbulence!"

_With Jaden, Matthew, and Amy_

Amy and Matt's eyes were wide, as they watched as their home began to crumble around them "No... H-Heliopolis..." Amy whispered.

Suddenly, their suits were hit by a blast of turbulence jerking their suits away from one another, as Amy screamed in surprise as both she and Matt went flying away.

"AMY! MATT!" Jaden shouted, as he tried desperately to chase after them, but his GiNN's engines faltered and failed as he found himself being taken over by the turbulence.

_On the _Archangel's_ Bridge_

On the Bridge of the Archangel, the crew could only watch in stunned horror as the central shaft collapsed and the colony began breaking apart. The ship itself was buffeted slightly by the turbulence that resulted from the colony's collapse, but was otherwise unharmed.

"Status Report!" Murrue ordered out. "Any damage?"

"Minimal damage to us ma'am!" One of the ships officers, Romero Pal, informed.

"Get in contact with the G-Weapons, what is their status?" Natarle ordered to Dalida Lolaha Chandra II. "I want to know their status!"

"Yes Ma'am!" Dalida confirmed. "This is the _Archangel _calling out to the TXG-103 Tempest, GAT-X105 Strike, GAT-X130 Templar, GAT-X221 Viral, and the UXG-001 Duo, please respond. I repeat: TXG-103 Tempest, GAT-X105 Strike, GAT-X130 Templar, GAT-X221, Viral and UPX-X001 Duo, please respond!"

"_TXG-103 Tempest here,_" Takeshi's voice replied over the radio. "_I'm a bit shaken around by the turbulence, but I'm otherwise alright._"

"_GAT-X105 Strike here,_" Cagalli's voice came in after Takeshi had finished. "_I'm alright, and wanting to kick ZAFT's butts for this!_"

"_Calm down, Princess,_" Ryu's voice scolded lightly as it broke through the interference. "_UPX-X001 Duo here, we're shaken up, but fine._"

"_T-This is t-the Viral..._" Amy's voice said. "_I'm fine, and... so is Matt._"

Everyone on the bridge of the _Archangel _breathed a sigh of relief as they heard the units report in. "Right, all units return to the _Archangel,_" Dalida ordered. "You can rest and rearm when you return."

"_Roger that,_" Takeshi replied.

"_Got it,_" Cagalli said. "_I'm on my way back now-huh?_" There was a moment's pause, and then, "Archangel_, I've come across a Heliopolis Lifeboat. I'm bringing it in._"

"What? Who gave you that authorization?" Natarle barked out. "We can't bring aboard any lifeboats!"

"_You might want to re-think that, Miss Badgiruel,_" Takeshi replied. "_I've just reached Cagalli's position myself, and that lifeboat's in fairly bad shape according to the Tempest's scans-the thrusters are shot, and it seems to be slowly leaking oxygen, meaning the outer shell might be cracked. If we don't take it in, its passengers might not survive until an official rescue team gets here. Do you want those lives haunting your conscience?_"

"You have permission to bring them aboard, Lady Cagalli," Murrue said, cutting in before Natarle could say anything, looking over her shoulder she sent the Ensign a stern look. "Natarle, it would be best for you to remember just _who _that is, I for one _don't _want ORB breathing down our necks, either from her getting killed, or her telling everyone that we just left their _civilians _to die."

Natarle swallowed tightly at the reprimand, her eyes widening slightly as the realization sunk in. "Y... yes ma'am." She affirmed with a salute.

"_Thank you, Miss Ramius,_" Takeshi replied. "_Need a hand with that, Cagalli?_"

"_I should be good,_" Cagalli said. "_These things are small enough to be carried by a single Mobile Suit._"

"_Gotcha-I'll stick close just in case anything unexpected happens,_" Takeshi replied. "_Miss Ramius, once we're all back aboard, I'll head up to the Bridge so we can discuss our next move._"

"_I'll be joining you,_" Ryu announced as the Duo came into the view of the _Archangel. _"_Meet you there, Takeshi._"

"Understood," Murrue announced with a sigh of relief. "Let's hope they'll give us a breather first. Neumann, try to keep us in the debris, it'll hide us from their sensors."

"Yes, ma'am!" The ship's pilot, Arnold Neumann, confirmed as he guided the _Archangel _through the remains of _Heliopolis_.

_Later, on the _Vesalius

"WHAT THE HELL DID I TELL YOU, RAU!" Jaden practically _roared _on the bridge of the _Vesalius,_ causing several of the others inside to flinch aside from Rau himself as Jaden glared at him. "I _TOLD _you using D-Type Gear was a bad idea, and look at what happened! The Whole damn colony got destroyed!"

"Jaden!" Rau barked out, freezing the pilot in his tracks. "I made a tactical decision based on the information we had at the time, the destruction is regrettable, but in the end ensuring that the Legged Ship does not make its way back into EA hands is more critical, the only reason we are able to hold our own against the EA is because of our Mobile Suits, if they can make their own then they will be able to overwhelm us with their numbers!"

"Still, Commander," Ades remarked, "I doubt that Orb or the Supreme Council will see it that way. And don't forget Terminal, who have very close ties with Orb. The way I see it, we'll be lucky if all we receive for this is a _**reprimand**_."

"Don't worry, Ades, I am sure the council will see things our way," Rau informed. "And the civilians should have all been evacuated to the emergency shelters, we will be fine so long as we destroy the Legged Ship."

"Still, the fact remains that we destroyed a colony belonging to a neutral nation," Ades replied. "Even if the council does agree with your tactics, I doubt Orb will take this lying down. And if they get Terminal involved, the consequences could be severe."

"They will not break their neutrality that they have been so adamant to defend," Rau stated confidently. "They have been doing everything to ensure they don't get involved, it's their own fault for not keeping a tighter reign over their companies."

"You have a point, Commander..." Ades admitted, sighing in worry. "Still, I have a bad feeling about what's going to come of this..."

"You worry too much, Ades." Rau informed with a grin.

_Meanwhile, a short distance outside of Heliopolis debris belt_

A pitch black mobile suit drifted through space as the pilot stared in shock at the destroyed colony. "This is _not _good," The man muttered, shaking himself out of his shock. "Alpha, get a line setup with Terminal High Command and patch in Orb Command as well."

"Yes sir," A synthesized feminine voice confirmed as a holographic image of an attractive woman wearing the Terminal Female uniform of a dark green uniform t-shirt and a short black shirt with a pair of heels appeared. "Connecting with them now."

"Thanks, Alpha," The pilot said as two images appeared. The first was of a dark skinned man with dark hair and eyes wearing a Terminal Officer's Uniform consisting of a dark green long-sleeved uniform shirt and a pair of black dress pants, the second person was a male wearing an ORB uniform with general bars. "Sirs, this is Agent Zeta of Recon Group Charlie reporting in, _Heliopolis _has been destroyed by ZAFT commander Rau le Creuset in his attempt to destroy the _Archangel _and G-weapons that Morgenroete built for the EA, orders?"

"Heliopolis? _Destroyed?_" The Orb General asked in shock. "_The representative council will not stand for this! This will give Lord Uzumi the push he needed to get involved, but _not_ with the Earth Alliance, they hold responsibility with this._"

"_We understand, General,_" The Terminal Officer said in a deep voice. "_But please, keep your calm, I will inform the Benefactors of what has happened, and whatever should Orb decide, we will honor our treaty. Agent Zeta, I am assigning Recon Group Charlie to following and observing the _Archangel _as well as the ZAFT task force in watching this situation unfold, should you have an opportunity, get into contact with Agent Tempest to inform him of what may be happening with Orb._"

"Understood, sir," Agent Zeta informed before the links were closed. "Right, back to the _Night Stalker_,Alpha, send out the recall order to the other units."

"Sir." Alpha confirmed as the signal was sent out and the black mobile suit slipped away from the debris field.

CHAPTER END

**Mecha Profiles:**

**Model Number**: UPX-X001 'Duo'  
**Unit Type**: Prototype High Performance Mobile Suit  
**Powerplant**: 2x Ultracompact energy battery  
**Manufacture: **Morgenroete  
**Operator(s): **Earth Alliance  
**Equipment and Design Features**: Phase Shift Armor; Sync System; Radar, range unknown; DRAGOON System  
**Fixed Armament**:  
2x "Igelstellung" 75mm Multi-barrel Anti Air CIWS, stored in head  
2x Heat Shotels, stored on hips, hand carried in use  
6x DRAGOON Fangs, stored in Flight Pack  
6x DRAGOON Beam Cannons, Stored in Flight Pack  
2x Beam Sabers, stored in Flight Pack  
2x 'Armor Schneider' Combat Knives  
**Optional Armaments:  
**'Shiki' High Density-Energy Beam Rifle, stored on flight pack, hand carried in use  
Shield, hand carried in use  
**Pilot(s)**: Ryu Hisanaga, Kira Yamato  
**Appearance**: Has the base of the Aile Strike with the Head of the Hyaku Shiki with added parts onto it, such as extra thrusters to the Flight Pack and the DRAGOON backpack split into two parts and stored on either side between the wings and the armor looks more bulky. the Primary Colour is Black with the chest the same shade of blue as the Strikes and has woodland green highlights. Has a dual 'V' Crest on it's forehead  
**Info**: The first, and only mobile suit constructed by Project Unity, the Duo. The First thing that sets this unit apart from most is the dual cockpit, it will allow two people to control the unit, more specifically one will control and fight with the unit itself, while the other will use the DRAGOON System to it's fullest potential without having to worry about defending themselves. While this unit _can _be used alone without aid from others, only when two pilots are working in sync with one another can the full potential of the unit be brought out. The second thing that sets this unit apart from any other units is the Sync System, it requires for a pair of pilots to align their mental wavelengths to a similar point with each other to activate it, but when active it will grant a mental link between the two, allowing them to synchronize with each other in battle to unheard of levels. Unfortunately this system was untested before the ZAFT attack on Heliopolis and as such there are no known side effects.

**Model Number:** TXG-103 'Tempest'  
**Unit Type:** Custom-Built Seven Swords Close Combat Mobile Suit  
**Powerplant:** Ultracompact Energy Battery  
**Manufacture:** Morgenroete  
**Operator:** Terminal  
**Equipment and Design Features:** Phase Shift Armor; Radar, range unknown;  
**Fixed Armament:** 2x "Igelstellung" 75mm Multi-barrel Anti Air CIWS  
**Optional Armaments:  
** "Exia" Folding Sword/Beam Rifle Unit, mounted on right forearm, hand-carried in use  
Anti-Armor Longsword, stored on left hip, hand-carried in use  
Anti-Armor Shortsword, stored on right hip, hand-carried in use  
2x Beam Saber, stored on backpack, hand-carried in use  
2x Beam Boomerang, stored on Shoulders, hand-carried in use  
Shield, Mounted on Left Forearm  
**Pilot:** Takeshi Yamato  
**Appearance:** The Torso is that of the Strike Gundam, with an Aile Striker permanently mounted on the back. The Head Unit is that of the Gundam X. The Arms and Legs are those of the Gundam Exia, while the Shoulders both contain Beam Boomerang Mounts like those of the Sword Striker. The Exia's Sword/Rifle, Shield, Longsword, and Shortsword are mounted in the same places they would be on the Exia.  
**Colors:** The Torso is Black with Dark Blue trim, while the Head and Limbs are Dark Blue with Black Trim. The V-Fin on the head unit is the same golden tone it always was.  
**Info:** Designed by Terminal Combat Agent Takeshi Yamato for his personal use, the Tempest is specialized for High-Speed Close-Range Combat with its seven different bladed weapons. This is to fit Takeshi's personal combat style, and can be downright deadly on the battlefield. (NOTE: At some point later in the story, the Tempest's Energy Battery will be replaced with a new power source.)

**Model Number: **ZGMF-1017 GiNN Jaden Takeo Custom  
**Unit Type: **Custom General Purpose Mobile Suit  
**Powerplant: **Ultracompact energy battery  
**Manufacture: **ZAFT  
**Operator(s): **ZAFT  
**Equipment and Design Features: **Sensors, Range Unknown; Lightwave pulse thrusters  
**Fixed Armament: **MA-M92 sword OR NOL-Y941 heavy laser sword, stored on left hip, hand-carried when in use;  
**Optional Fixed Armament: **M7070 Shield-plus-28mm Vulcan System, mounted on left forearm;  
**Optional Armaments:  
**MMI-M8A3 76mm Heavy Assault Machine Gun  
MA-M21G Beam Rifle  
M68 "Cattus" 500mm Recoilless Rifle  
M69 "Barrus" Heavy Ion Cannon;  
**Pilot(s): **Jaden Takeo  
**Appearance: **Looks like the ZGMF-1017M2 GiNN High Maneuver Type 2, only minus the head fin, and has the Vulcan shield of a CGUE, and the beam rifle of a GuAIZ.  
**Colors: **Crimson Red with Black Trimming  
**Info: **This is the customized GiNN piloted by Jaden Takeo. It has most of the same armaments as a regular GiNN, however with his upgrades its performance is on par if not surpassing that of a CGUE. The data from his unit would eventually lead to the creation of the GiNN HM Type II.

**Model Number**: GAT-X130 'Templar'  
**Unit Type**: Prototype General Purpose Mobile Suit  
**Powerplant**: Ultracompact energy battery  
**Manufacture:** Morgenroete  
**Operator(s): **Earth Alliance  
**Equipment and Design Features**: Sensors, Range unknown; Phase-Shift Armor  
**Fixed Armament**:  
2 x "Midas Messer" Beam Boomerangs, mounted on shoulders, hand-carried when in use (can be used as beam sabers);  
2 x "Armor Schneider" Combat Knives, stored in hips, hand-carried when in use;  
**Optional Fixed Armaments:** "Kaefer Zwei" 115mm dual ram cannon, mounted on left forearm;  
**Optional Armaments:  
**2 x "Schlag" 125mm high-energy long-range beam cannon, mounted on back over shoulders;  
2 x "Schwert Gewehr" Anti-ship Swords, stored on back, hand-carried when in use;  
"Todesblock" 337mm plasma-sabot bazooka  
57mm High-Energy Beam Rifle  
**Pilot(s)**: Matthew Takeo  
**Appearance**: Looks like the GAT-X133 Sword Calamity, however it can switch between the original Calamity's Beam Cannons and the Sword Calamity's Anti-Ship Swords, and has the Calamity's Shield and Bazooka.  
**Colors:** Black with Gold Trimming  
**Info**: The GAT-X130 Templar is the predecessor to the GAT-X131 Calamity and GAT-X133 Sword Calamity, being capable of switching between their respective equipment.

**Model Number**: GAT-X221 'Viral'  
**Unit Type**: Prototype Electronics Warfare and Hacking Platform Mobile Suit  
**Powerplant**: Ultracompact Energy Battery  
**Manufacture: **Morgenroete  
**Operator(s): **Earth Alliance  
**Equipment and Design Features**:  
Phase Shift Armor  
Electronics Warfare Suite (EWS)  
Remote Hacking Interface (RHI)  
Mirage Colloid  
_Upgrades  
_Advanced Viral Uploading Programs  
Viral Creation Package  
**Fixed Armament**:  
2 x "Igelstellung" 75mm Multi-barrel CIWS, mounted in head  
2 x "Armor Schneider" Combat Knife, mounted in thighs, hand carried in use  
1x Beam Saber, mounted on left forearm, hand carried in use  
**Optional Armaments:  
**LD-22C Beam Sub Machine Gun  
Shield  
**Pilot(s)**: Amy Takeo  
**Appearance**: Looks like the Blitz Gundam without the shoulder 'fins' or the rocket anchor or shield, has the head and backpack of the Gundam Throne Drei.  
**Colors: **Primarily Black with a dark Blue chest and white highlights.  
**Info**: The Viral is a mobile suit constructed not for combat, but for Hacking. By engaging the Mirage Colloid and drifting into range of enemy ships or bases, the Viral is able to hack into their systems and wreak havoc with them by setting them to self destruct, vent atmosphere, send out fake orders and such like.


	2. Chapter Two: Silent Run

Disclaimer: This is a Story, based on a Story, based on a Story that I do not own, so if you'd kindly... _**SCREW OFF!**_

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

"_Radio"_

Chapter Two: Silent Run

Archangel, _Bridge_

"Well, we're in quite the mess now," Mu stated with a sigh as he stood beside the captain's chair where Murrue was seated. Ryu, who had changed into an Alliance Officer uniform that was mostly black with dark green shoulders and with Lieutenant's bars on his chest, was leaning on the ship's co-pilot seat, while Takeshi was standing on the other side of Murrue. "We're in the middle of a destroyed Orb Colony and no place to go."

"I know what you mean, Hawk," Takeshi replied. "Honestly, there aren't very many safe harbors around here for a ship like this, or any ship at all, for that matter. The fact of the matter is, L3 is the most scarcely populated Lagrange Point-aside from Heliopolis, the only installation that can be found at L3 is Artemis, and I always make a point to stay _**well clear**_ of that Eurasian outpost-in-the-middle-of-nowhere, even if it was practically next-door to my home."

"Unfortunately, as much as we would wish to avoid that, we only have two choices, try to make a run for Luna Base, which would leave us without resupply of any sort for a long period of time. Or, we go to Artemis," Ryu stated, his eyes closed as his face was blank. "Personally I would rather take our chances going to Luna Base, if we really get desperate we could always attempt to steal from the ZAFT forces when they pursue us."

"A run for Luna could work," Takeshi remarked. "We could even cut some time by going through the Debris Belt, scavenging any supplies we needed until we got closer to Luna. I'd rather do that than head to Artemis-last I heard from Terminal Intelligence Reports, Artemis is now under _**Garcia's**_ command. Why they put a _teme_ like him in charge of an outpost like that, I will never know."

"Garcia?" Murrue asked, a confused look on her face. "I've heard about him being the commander of Artemis, but why do you hate him?"

"I don't know about Takeshi, but me and Mu have a score to settle with him on the behalf of our deceased squadron commander," Ryu said in a cold voice as his eyes opened to show a shimmering anger brewing in his jade colored eyes. "Especially after he _raped _her."

"Never knew about that, to be honest," Takeshi remarked. "However, I had the displeasure of working with him on one of my contracts. Honestly, I have never met a more arrogant, stuck-up, self-centered SOB in all of my life, and probably never will again. He's worse than Blue Cosmos in my opinion, always looking out for his own interests, everyone else be damned."

"Only his money saved him from being court martialled," Mu informed. "That and the fact that Blue Cosmos was supporting him because of Ryu's connection to our commander, but for some reason she refused to allow us to go after him ourselves before we got transferred away."

"She didn't want us to fall to the same level as him," Ryu informed. "But... I made an oath, should I see him again, I _will _extract vengeance for Yuna. So unless you want me to destroy Artemis from within single-handedly, we should find an alternative route."

"No argument from me," Takeshi replied. "I think making our way to Luna Base by way of the Debris Belt would be our best bet. ZAFT would have to either be suicidal or have a _**very**_ good reason to follow us in, and we could easily scavenge for supplies from the debris if we needed a resupply."

"We may even get lucky and run into the Junk Guild to trade with for supplies," Ryu said. "They regularly pick through the belt for stuff to scavenge."

Murrue frowned in thought as she weighed their options, although it was already pretty much a forgone conclusion. If they went to Artemis, the entire base would be killed by Ryu in his attempt to extract vengeance on Garcia, and all things considered, Mu would probably be right behind them. Not to mention that they weren't even registered with Alliance Command yet. "Right, we'll make a shot for Luna Base by way of the Debris Belt," She announced. "Now, what should we do about the ZAFT Forces? I doubt we would last if they were right on us."

"The best we can do is launch decoys along the other possible routes and hope they follow one of the decoys rather than us," Takeshi replied. "Heck, we could even launch a decoy towards Artemis, and hope that le Creuset takes out Garcia for us!"

"Actually..." Ryu said with a musing expression. "I have an idea, what if we launch _two _decoys, in both directions?"

"I think I see where you're going, here," Takeshi replied. "Le Creuset is pretty smart, so he'd imagine that we would use Decoys, but he'd probably expect us to go for Artemis. If we send a Decoy along the standard route to Luna, as well as one to Artemis, he'd believe his suspicions were correct and pursue the decoy headed for Artemis. That's brilliant!"

"We wait to make sure he's following the Artemis decoy and make our escape," Ryu confirmed as he lifted a finger. "But that's not all, if he makes to follow the Luna Decoy, we can strike them from behind."

"Ryu, that is the most epic plan I have ever been a part of," Takeshi remarked. "I'm in."

"This is like the Grimaldi Front," Mu said with a chuckle. "You've always been the one to see the most obvious plan that would making a mockery of the enemy no matter their choice. Let's do it."

Murrue was frowning in thought as she thought it over. "It's a solid plan, let's do it," she agreed, cementing the idea. "I want the pilots on standby in case of the worst case, however."

"Yes ma'am." Ryu confirmed saluting with Mu.

"My Zero's been fixed up all nice and shiny like so add another gun in our favor." Mu informed.

"You know me and the Tempest are ready to go at a moment's notice," Takeshi added. "And it's not just because of my contract now, either. We're the only hope those refugees we took aboard have of reaching safety."

"Speaking of which, how are they settling in?" Ryu asked over to Chandra, who had been delegated to managing the civilians.

"A lot of them are concerned about what's going to happen with _Heliopolis _destroyed," He informed. "But other than that they're doing just fine, we are going to have to ration the meals and water to make it to the Debris Belt, though."

"Right," Ryu said with a sigh as he palmed his face. "The pilots are all getting a bit jittery, especially Amy and Matt, they're not looking forward to the next sortie."

"I don't envy those two," Takeshi sighed. "Having to come to grips with the fact that their brother is one of ZAFT's top aces... and having to fight him... and I'm kind of worried about what might happen with Flay aboard, given what her father has probably taught her..."

When Cagalli had brought the lifeboat aboard, Takeshi had been there to make sure nothing bad happened, and he had been slightly dismayed to learn that Flay Allster was among the refugees they rescued.

"I told them to let me know if she becomes too much of a bother," Ryu informed. "She may be needing a rude awakening soon enough."

"Gotcha," Takeshi replied. "Let me know if you need help with that, Ryu."

"I will," Ryu said before he pushed off the chair and headed for the door. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get something to eat."

Murrue nodded as Ryu headed off. "I think that sounds like a good idea for all of us," she said. "Grab a bite to eat and catch some sleep if you can, we'll be moving in six hours."

"Sure thing, Miss Ramius," Takeshi replied. "I'll see you in the hangar once it's time to get going, Hawk." He then headed for the door himself, intent on getting something to eat.

"I'm going to catch some shut eye now, you should do the same, Captain." Mu advised as he headed off. "Wouldn't do for our Captain to be exhausted, now would it?"

"Right, Ensign, you have the bridge," Murrue said to Natarle as she stood. "I'll relieve you in a few hours."

"Aye, ma'am, I have the bridge." Natarle confirmed as she saluted and moved into the captain's chair while Murrue and Mu left the bridge.

_Meanwhile, on the _Vesalius

Jaden stood at the observation lounge of the _Vesalius, _looking out in the space where Heliopolis once resided. He was still wearing his normal suit, knowing that the next sortie would be made eventually.

His mind was focused on Amy and Matthew, the two people he once thought were dead. '_How... how are they still alive?_' he thought, '_Why haven't they tried to contact me? Why... damn this doesn't make any sense._'

He looked back out into space, he remembered what his once thought dead siblings said, that they were not working for the E.A, and they were just protecting their friends... he could only hope that if they were who they claimed they were, they were telling the truth and that they were not being deceived by the E.A somehow.

'_And now they're friends with Ryu Hisanaga..._' he thought with a low growl. '_Amy... Matt... I don't know how close you are to him, but he has to go down... I won't just up and forgive what he did to Commander Cole. I won't hold back against either of you... or him._'

_Meanwhile, _Archangel, _Cafeteria_

Kira yawned as she ate her food, feeling the strain of the day settle in on her. "Man, who knew piloting a mobile suit would be so straining?" She sighed taking a drink of her coffee. "I think I know why Ryu lives on coffee the way he does now..."

"I hear that," Matthew said as he drank some coffee too, "Though honestly I wish the Coffee here tasted better..."

"The joys of Military coffee," Ryu announced as he entered the cafeteria. "No matter what they do it'll always suck balls."

"I heard ZAFT's got some pretty good coffee..." Amy said, "Ya think if we ask nicely enough they'll give us some?"

Ryu smirked with a chuckle. "Ah, that reminds me of my early days in the EA," he said, smirking. "Me and Mu used to be wingmates back then and we were in the same squad, one day our commander got so fed up with the coffee we had, she ordered me and Mu to get into a ZAFT base and steal as much as we could carry... damn we were lucky it was Andrew Waltfield's base, since then he would send our squad a full case of his home brew coffee grinds."

"Geez... Ya think you could message that guy, and tell him to send us a few packs?" Matthew asked with a bit of sarcasm.

"Wish I could," Ryu replied with a shake of his head. "I tell ya, if it was _him, _and not Rau in command of the task force meant for the G-Weapons, _Heliopolis _would be intact and ZAFT would have the G-Weapons, Rau is a clever pilot, but delicate strategies were never his strongest point, not to mention his arrogance has cost him quite a few blows to his pride."

Takeshi walked in at that point. "What're you all talking about?" he asked.

"Eh, started on coffee and then naturally ended up at Waltfield and what would've happened had _he _been the commanding officer," Ryu informed as Takeshi sat down with his own cup. "I was just talking about Rau's arrogance when you walked in."

"Ah," Takeshi remarked. "Waltfeld, eh? I never met him myself, but I do know a few Terminal Agents who have-they often get some of his coffee and share it with me. It's a different flavor every time-The guy seems to be keen on experimentation."

"He is, actually a rather nice guy to boot as well," Ryu informed. "Especially after he let me and Mu go when we broke into his base to steal some of his coffee. Led to us pranking one another whenever we were in the same theater of war. Ever see a GiNN throw a snowball? I have."

"That would be one large snowball," Takeshi, remarked. "Don't think I've ever seen that myself, but I get the feeling you could use Snowballs like that as frozen artillery."

"He did." Ryu groused with a scowl making everyone laugh. "I have yet to get back at that one, took me a _week _to dig my GiNN out!"

"Wow," Takeshi remarked. "I'll need to keep that in mind if I end up in an environment which has a lot of snow-and I imagine that you could do real damage if you packed the snow tight enough. Though I doubt you'd be able to do that to Waltfeld at the moment-last I heard, he was in Africa."

"Heard that, too, who knows, maybe I'll try and bury his BuCUE's he's so proud of in sand?" Ryu mused, getting some chuckles.

"That would be a sight to see," Takeshi remarked. "And going back to the topic of snow, I heard that a Terminal Agent who got shot down in one of the arctic regions actually survived by using his Patriot's Beam Sabers at minimal power to heat the snow and turn it into warm water."

"I'll have to remember that one," Ryu said with a thoughtful look when he heard the recent recruits yawn. "All right you three, off to bed with you, you need some rest before our next sortie."

"Yeah, Yeah..." Matthew said as he stood up "Come on, Amy,"

"Coming," she said as she followed her brother out.

"I'm only heading off to bed if you are, Ryu," Kira announced. "I know that you didn't get much sleep last night."

Ryu chuckled as he shook his head. "Fine, fine, I'll be your pillow," he teased, making Kira blush a bright cherry red.

"S... Shut up!" Kira shouted at him as the two of them left the cafeteria.

Takeshi smiled at the two as they left. "Those two... they're practically made for each other..." he muttered, before going to get something to eat to go with his coffee. "I hope I can find a relationship like theirs, someday..."

_A few hours Later, _Archangel, _Pilot Ready room_

"Alright you guys, we'll be launching the two decoy missiles in 20 minutes, so listen up," Ryu announced as he walked into the Ready room dressed in a mostly black flight suit with dark red shoulders. "We will _not _be launching should everything go according to plan, but you know the plans of mice and men, and should _anyone _tempt Murphy, I will personally use you as bait for ZAFT fishing. Any questions?"

"No tempting Murphy, got it," Takeshi remarked. He was clad in a dark blue flight suit with black trim and a black torso, just like the Tempest's coloring. "Can we quote one of his laws if we feel it has been triggered, though? I know quite a few of them, and several are applicable in this situation."

"Only if it's highly ironic," Ryu noted. "I don't need my pilots focused on making jokes when we've got someone trying to shove bullets up our asses."

"Gotcha. I will quote a relevant one right now, though. 'You are not supermen-Marines and Fighter Pilots, take note.' It probably applies to us, as well, so everyone be careful out there if we do launch."

"Good point," Ryu said with a nod. "Like he said, you are not invincible, all a Braveheart charge will get you is a gang up and a shit ton of lead."

"Yeah, we figured as much." Matthew said with a nod "If we do launch, me and Amy will try and stick with the ship and keep it safe."

"Yeah," Amy said with a nod, "The Viral isn't the best for defending, but it's got enough." She then glanced to Kira. "Ya know, you're more than welcome to try your hand at piloting the Viral, Kira. I think it suits you perfectly, considering that it is a Hacking superiority mobile suit."

"Maybe some other time," Kira replied. "I admit that it would be suited for me, but I think I should help Ryu in the Duo if we need to launch this time. I might use the Viral in situations where the Duo isn't needed, however."

"If we don't need the full strength of the Duo I'll just be piloting it as a normal suit-" Ryu paused in the middle of his sentence. "Amy, you said the Viral was a hacking superiority suit, correct?"

Amy blinked and nodded. "Yeah, it is," she said. "I haven't used any of its hacking subroutines yet, but it also seems to be able to provide Electronic Countermeasures and a lot of other stuff."

Ryu moved over to the comm unit and punched in the code for the bridge. "Captain, hold a minute on the Missile Launch," He requested as the line was connected, looking over to Kira. "I have an idea to add..."

_Meanwhile, on the _Vesalius

Once again, Jaden and Athrun were on the bridge with Rau and Ades, over the map of the surrounding space. "It seems that they only have two options," Jaden said. "Either make a mad dash to Luna HQ, or head to Artemis." He then glanced at Rau. "What do you believe he will do, Commander?"

Rau looked at the map "I would normally say they would head for Artemis," he said with a sigh. "But with Ryu Hisanaga among their numbers, I am not too sure. He always has a way to put a wrench into my plans."

Jaden looked at the map, '_Artemis would be the most likely..._' he thought, '_However, I've heard Artemis is commanded by Rear Admiral Garcia... and I've heard plenty of rumors involving a hatred between him and Ryu Hisanaga's team... not to mention I've heard he's a slime ball from what I've heard._' He then looked at the course the _Archangel _would have to take to get to Luna H.Q '_If they take a path to Luna H.Q, the quickest route would be to go through the debris field._' he thought. '_They could salvage food, water and supplies from wrecked ships... Lowe said he and the Junk Guild do it all the time when they're forced to._'

Weighing his options, Jaden sighed a bit. "Commander," he said, "I would like to take Nicol and the Blitz Gundam to this location." He pointed to an area around the debris field. "I may also need my GiNN suited up with the War Shroud I built."

Rau rose his eyebrow behind his mask. "Oh? Why's that?" he asked.

"I believe that, even though Artemis is closer, they may take a shot towards Luna," Jaden said, "I've heard some... colorful things about Artemis's commander, namely that their commander has some hostile history between him and Hisanaga. Ryu may convince the crew of the _Archangel _to head to Luna HQ, using the debris belt as both a short cut, and to stock up on supplies by salvaging food, water and maybe even ammo from derelict vessels and stations there. If they do go to the Debris Field... Nicol and I can be waiting to ambush them if Athrun and the others fail to catch them. The Blitz has a stealth mode which should help greatly in such an ambush."

"The idea does have merit... but what about your resupply, ammo, and battery life?" He asked pointedly. "You may be able to _reach _the debris belt in your suits, but getting back is another matter entirely, even _if _the ambush goes your way."

"My GiNN has been upgraded with the new experimental Rechargeable Batteries," Jaden answered. "When my GiNN isn't in active combat, the battery will constantly be recharging. I can use the recharge cord on my GiNN to make sure Nicol's Gundam won't run out of power either by using power from my GiNN."

"It's experimental for a reason, sir," Ades stated respectively from his seat. "They're not 100% certain if it's fully capable, it's only been tested in the labs."

"Then I think its time for a field test." Jaden said. "We won't find out if it works unless we give it a try. We'll only engage them for a short while before withdrawing back to the _Vesalius._ If you do intercept them, their pilots will be exhausted from the first engagement with you. It would be the ideal time to attack, even if the attack is small and short."

Rau hummed in thought as he looked at the screen. "Very well," He relented. "But be cautious. Ryu may not have been the _official _commander of his squadron, but he has always been the one to play havoc with my own plans in battle. No telling _what _he's planning."

"I fought Ryu Hisanaga before at Endymion to a stalemate before the Cyclops went off, Rau." Jaden said as he turned around to leave for the hangar. "I know what to expect from him."

"You fought a berserk Ryu who cared for no strategy, teamwork or even his own life." Rau stated loudly a brief glimmer of frustration emerging from his voice. "Hate him all you wish Jaden, but respect the man's ability in war, he fought off myself and Waltfeld, he stole a prototype from under the the council's noses _during a demonstration of the mobile suit._ _Never_ underestimate Ryu's capabilities, that goes double when DRAGOON units are involved."

Jaden chuckled dryly "You're telling me things I already know Rau," he said. "I always take my threats seriously, and I _never _hold back... not after Endymion." And with that, he left the bridge.

"Say what you will about him, but he's becoming far too focused for his own good," Ades muttered as he drew his cap lower over his eyes. "If he's not careful, he'll be too obsessed to see the gun at his head."

"Mm, true, but Ryu will be too blinded by looking out for his friends," Rau countered. "But I hope Jaden is careful this time, I don't think he'll survive the second rampage of the Dragon if he does..."

Before Ades could respond, however, several alarms started flashing through the bridge. "Commander, we're being hacked!" One of the bridge officers warned. "We've been locked out of every system and the entire ship is being locked down with bulkheads sealing! Even the Catapult has been locked down, we can't launch our suits!"

Jaden meanwhile heard the alarms going off, as the Bulkheads in front and behind him sealed shut. He let out a small growl. '_They're hacking the ship..._' he thought, '_They must have an Electronic Warfare system on the _Archangel, _or one of their suits specializes in it._' He approached one of the terminals as he proceeded to type on it. '_Then it's time for some manual overrides, I suppose._' He smirked as the locks disengaged as they allowed him to manually open the door with his hands as he continued to the hangar.

_Meanwhile, In the Viral, outside of the Vesalius_

Kira grinned as her hands flew across the keyboard shutting down system after system and locking the ship down completely. "This is too easy," She muttered with a grin. "Now, time to upload the 'Kira Special'."

The so called 'Kira Special' was a custom-made virus that Kira had created a year ago that would run rampant through the ships computer systems, activating and deactivating systems at random, but that was just a cover for it's true purpose, while that was happening several trojan horses implanted themselves in the various systems of the ship and any other software linked to the ship's mainframe, which would include the mobile suits currently linked in, giving Kira complete and utter control over the ship whenever she wished for it, and to top it off, it would activate the ship's self-destruct should anyone attempt to remove the virus or even reset all of the software to wipe the slate clean. The best part of the virus, however, was that when they would return to ZAFT High Command, it would upload itself into ZAFT's mainframe, further spreading itself until all of ZAFT was in the palm of her hand.

Once the virus was uploaded, Kira cut the hard link she had used to access their systems and activated the Viral's Mirage Colloid. "This is GAT-X221 Viral to the _Archangel,_" Kira reported as she activated the secure comm channel Ryu had given them to use. "Mission complete, returning to base now."

"_Understood, Viral,_" Replied Romero Pal, the ship's comm officer. "_We'll be waiting._"

With a final look at the Vesalius, Kira smirked and slid off into the inky blackness of space.

_Meanwhile, on the _Vesalius

Jaden arrived at the hangar to find everything there was just like anywhere else on the ship: Absolute chaos trying to isolate the Virus. "What's happening, guys," he asked as he came across a team of technicians around a terminal.

"It's a madhouse in the OS!" One of the techie's said. "Systems are shutting on and off all over the place, we're trying to isolate it all... but it's chaos! We can't even open the hangar doors."

Jaden narrowed his eyes, as he pushed several of them away as he began typing away into the computer. "What are you doing?" One of the Technicians asked.

"Saving our asses, that's what," he said, logging in. "This is all a distraction... whoever is hacking the ship must be after something more than just turning on and off a few lights, locking a few bulkheads... there's gotta be something...AHA! Trojans!"

"Trojans?" One of the Technicians asked, as Jaden nodded. "Yes, several Trojans were placed into the OS of the ship." he explained, still typing away. "Looks like they were trying to have some control of the ship..." He then blinked at the name of who sent the Trojans. "HeliopolisValkyrie, huh?" he asked, before he smirked. "Well miss Valkyrie... how about a taste of your own medicine?" He then typed a few additional keys, before hitting the 'enter' key.

_Meanwhile, with Kira_

As Kira in the Viral made their way back to the _Archangel, _suddenly warning alarms started going off in the cockpit as the Gundam made a sudden lurch to the left. "WHOA, WHAT?" Kira shouted.

Bringing up the computer screen, Kira narrowed her eyes as she spotted the virus' in the Viral's systems. "Surprising," she admitted to herself as she started typing commands into her computer bringing up several command screens. "Hmm, can't get to the root of it, huh, too bad for you, I'm always prepared for this," she said grinning as she reached behind her seat and pulled out her laptop and plugged it into the Viral and activated it's anti-viral subroutine. "Take care of this would you please, Axel?" she said to her anti-viral program she dubbed 'Axel', it was a 'learning' program that Kira had created in her early years and had extensively tested by introducing more and more complex virus' into her laptop, with Axel being able to contain and destroy each one storing the data into it's subroutines.

It took a few minutes, but as always Axel never failed her as the Viral was completely purged of all virus'. "Keep yourself in the Viral, Axel," Kira said to the program as she disconnected her laptop from the Viral. "Amy will probably need your help when she's piloting the Viral, so help her out as best as you can, kay, Axel?"

Even though Kira knew her self-created learning program couldn't respond, she couldn't help but feel a warming presence in the Viral as if it were happy. "Good, hmm, maybe I should upgrade your software to allow you to do hacking as well?" She mused as the _Archangel _came into sight with its hangar doors opening.

"_Welcome back, Viral,_" Romero informed as Kira dropped the Mirage Colloid. "_The Second Stage is now underway._"

Kira couldn't help but grin as it looked like Ryu's plan was going flawlessly.

_Meanwhile, on the_ Vesalius

Jaden began to growl a bit as his Hacking attempts were beginning to fail, "Dammit, where is my laptop!" He shouted, as one of the Techies had left to grab him his Laptop. A few moments passed before a technician carrying a red and black Laptop arrived, and handed it to Jaden. He immediately drew out a cord and connected it into the Terminal before powering up the Laptop. "Alright, Lucy..." He muttered, a devious grin on his face which made everyone else around him at unease. "Let's show them that two minds are better than one."

As the screen of his laptop turned on, a short message appeared which read. "_Okay! I love a challenge!_"

_Meanwhile, on the _Archangel_ Hanger Bay_

Kira was just about to put the Viral into its birth before once again, to her shock, warning alarms started going off on the Viral. "WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?" She shouted, as she turned on her computer again, and found that the hackers were at it again, only Axel was actually having _trouble _holding them off. "How... what... no way!"

She growled as she pulled out the Viral's computer pad once again. "Alright, who the hell _is _this guy?" She asked as she began to help Axel fight the new invaders back... only for her screen to turn blank causing her to blink, before the screen then changed to that of an image of three people wearing strange blue suits dancing in a strange way, while singing "_Opa Gangam Style!_" and a message at the bottom read '_Courtesy of RedDemon69 and Lucifer2! Better luck next time!_'

"He didn't," Kira growled angrily. "AXEL!"

The computer displayed a message. "_DESTROY!_"

_Meanwhile, on the_ Vesalius

Jaden was looking rather pleased with himself and Lucy as their attempt seemed to succeed, but the entire Vesalius seemed to shudder. "What's happening?" He barked out to the tech who paled.

"Uhh, we seem to be moving towards the largest piece of debris from Heliopolis," he informed before the PA crackled to life and a synthesized male voice spoke.

"_To the so called RedDemon69 _and _Lucifer2,_" It announced, getting Jaden's attention. "_We are not pleased with your joke, and now you shall be punished._"

Jaden blinked, however suddenly... he chuckled... before he broke into a full on fit of laughter as everyone looked as if he had gone off the deep end. "Oh, now _this _is what I need!" he shouted, "Finally, after all my years, I never thought I'd meet me and Lucy a rival on the technical field..." He then turned back and typed several commands into the terminal with his left hand, and several more onto his laptop with his right as the _Vesalius _steadied "Well, let's see how he reacts..."

_Meanwhile, on the _Archangel

Kira seemed very pleased with herself as she finally stepped out of the Viral, however suddenly the _Archangel _began to shudder, and the PA snapped on as a synthesized female voice spoke. "_To whoever HeliopolisValkyrie and this Axel character is,_" it said. "_I've been looking for a challenge like you for too long... I hereby declare hacking WAR with you!_"

Then another synthesized male voice said "_May the best hackers win!_" Which was followed by maniacal laughter between them before the comm's went dead.

Kira's eyes narrowed as everyone turned to her, Sai, who had just entered the hangar, paled to snow white levels and quickly disappeared from the hangar.

"He's good, dead, but good," Kira announced as she turned and headed back to the Viral. "Axel, keep an eye out and shut any remote links to the Viral, including the Archangel. I'll do the software tweaks myself."

"_All links cut,_" Flashed on the computer screen. "_Shall we strike back?_"

"Not for now, after all, that's Ryu and Mu's job now." She informed with a wide grin. "After all, this entire plan was a 'Kira Special', make sure that the little change we made to their RADAR is still in place."

"_Understood._" Axel replied.

_Meanwhile, Outside of the _Vesalius

"_I hope Kira was able to make it happen._" Mu grumbled as he in his Moebius Zero and Ryu in the Duo drifted under the _Vesalius, _the Zero had it's Gunbarrel's missing an in it's place were several containers containing explosives that Ryu was removing and setting on not only the _Vesalius, _but several debris in the area, placed for maximum effect.

"Relax Mu, Kira knows what she's doing," Ryu assured grinning. "Even if they managed to get through the thousands of virus' Kira placed, they won't notice the changes she made to their RADAR until we are long done."

"_If you say so,_" Mu said with a sigh. "_I just feel naked without those gunbarrels._"

Suddenly their radios sprang to life as a communication from Romero Pal came through."_This is the _Archangel _to the UPX-X001 and the Moebius Zero, do you copy?_"

"This is the Duo here, I read you." Ryu responded as he set another explosive near the _Vesalius' _Engines.

"_Stage one is complete with a few additions,_" Romero reported making Ryu chuckle as he remembered the sudden jolt of the _Vesalius _moving. "_What is the progress of Stage Two._"

"Placing the last bomb now," Ryu informed as he primed the bomb. "We're on our way back now."

"_Understood Commander._" Romero replied before cutting the link.

"C'mon Mu, let's get going." Ryu informed his wingmate who sighed in relief.

"Finally." Mu sighed as he turned the Zero around and headed back to the _Archangel _with the Duo being sure to keep their thrusters at a minimum to ensure they weren't spotted on their way out.

_Meanwhile, in the Archangel's Locker Room_

"It seems like you have a Hacking Rival, Imouto," Takeshi remarked to Kira as they waited for Ryu and Mu to get back. "Though I doubt that he's quite as skilled as you are."

"Of course he isn't!" Kira announced indignantly. "I could have completely cut the Warning Systems and activated their self destruct along with their mobile suit self destructs! Or I could have removed life support, he's just lucky Ryu wants to minimize the casualties."

Takeshi chuckled. "True..." he said. "And I'm looking forward to seeing the full results of your 'Kira Special'. ZAFT won't know what hit it once you're done with them."

Kira giggled as she grinned widely. "When Ryu gets back, I'm going to get him to help me load the spare hardware for the Viral into the Duo," she informed. "Can you imagine the possibilities if I can hack enemy units on the fly in the _middle of combat!_"

"Definitely," he replied. "And we're going to have TWO hackers going strong once you get those upgrades made to that AI of yours."

"Axel isn't an AI," Kira informed. "He's a learning software designed for anti-viral routines, but... I think he may be close to evolving into an AI..." She bit her lip slightly in thought. "During the little hacker battle I had, Axel was starting to display anger, honestly Takeshi-nii, it scares me, we have no idea what AI's are capable of..."

Takeshi nodded. "True," he admitted. "But still, the one you created is very loyal to you, I think. And if he does evolve to an AI, that just means we'll have another companion to talk to." He then smirked. "Not to mention that, since you're the one who coded him, you could be considered his 'mother'."

Kira giggled slightly. "I suppose you're right," she agreed. "I better give Amy a warning about that then, cause I have him installed in the Viral for the time being to help Amy when she's piloting it."

Takeshi chuckled a bit. "Sounds like a plan," he said. After a moment's silence, he then said, "You know, since we'll be travelling through the Debris Belt, there's a chance we might come across the ruins of Junius Seven."

"Yeah," Kira whispered in realization. "We should do something if we do, pay our respects to the fallen..."

"Definitely," Takeshi replied. "We'll need to be careful, though, because we're getting close to the 1-Year Anniversary of that tragedy, and there might be ZAFT ships patrolling the area to prepare for the memorial service I've heard they'll be having."

Kira sighed. "It's going to get worse before it gets better isn't it, Take-nii?" She asked as she leaned into her brother. "I think I can kinda understand why Ryu seems so sad at times now..."

"War is never easy, Imouto," he informed. "Those who fight on the front lines take lives on a regular basis. They may do their best to keep from taking lives, like I do, but there are times when an enemy won't surrender or retreat, or are too dangerous to leave alive. Killing may be hard, but just always remember that it's _**supposed**_ to be hard. If you stop feeling guilty about your kills, then you truly become a monster who fights simply for the sake of fighting and killing. Always remember that there is another person at the controls of any machine you fight, and that killing them should only be your last resort, for if there are no other options, and always fight to protect your friends, loved ones, and home-never fight simply for the sake of defeating the enemy."

Kira sighed in response as the Alert sounded for docking units as the Duo and Zero landed. "_Raise status to Yellow Alert!_" Murrue's voice called out. "_We will be launching Decoys in five minutes! All Pilots report to the ready room!_"

"Back to work, I suppose," Kira said with a sigh as she drifted towards the Ready Room, still in her pilot suit. "I just hope... I just hope ORB will be safe..."

_Terminal High Command, _New Platea, _Communications Room_

"Admiral, communications incoming from ORB Command!" A comm officer called out to a man dressed in the Terminal uniform with the Admiral Bars on his shoulders.

"Put it through," Admiral David Anderson ordered, he was a dark skinned man with a shaved head and dark brown eyes that looked to have seen much in his younger days. "Representative Athha," Anderson said respectively as the Image of Uzumi Athha appeared on the main screen. "Has the Council come to a decision?"

"_We have,_" Uzumi informed. "_We will be beginning covert strikes against both the EA and ZAFT at once and begin a shadow war upon them, will Terminal be standing with us?_"

Anderson saluted sharply. "Always, Chief Representative," He confirmed. "We will begin dispatching and recalling our units immediately. Any specific Targets?"

"_Our first priority will be securing the surviving Heliopolis survivors,_" Uzumi informed. "_We have received intel reports that my daughter and a group of civilians are aboard the new ship _Archangel,_ if we can get that ship onto our side..._"

"A decisive blow against the EA to be sure," Anderson agreed. "We'll get into contact with the Eighth Fleet and see what we can do, we also have Agent Tempest aboard the _Archangel _alongside Ryu Hisanaga, with their help we could possibly convince the crew to defect."

"_I will leave it in your hands Admiral,_" Uzumi said nodding. "_May Haumea bless us all._"

Anderson saluted as the link closed. "Update the _Night Stalker,_" Anderson ordered to the comm officers. "Inform them to get a link set up between us and Agent Tempest, I have new orders for him."

"Yessir!"

_Meanwhile_

_Archangel Pilot's Ready Room_

Takeshi suddenly had a slight twinge of intuition as he sat in the Pilot's Ready Room, waiting for any notice that he and his fellow pilots would be needed.

'_Something important just happened,_' he thought. '_Something that caused an alteration in my contract. Well, I can't worry about it now-once we're in the Debris Belt I can try getting in touch with HQ._'

"_Missiles are away, repeat, missiles are away!_" Came the announcement over the speakers.

"Which bait will you take, Rau?" Ryu asked in a whisper as he leaned forward before smirking slightly, fiddling with the detonator in his hands. "Not that it matters much."

_Meanwhile, on the Vesalius_

"Sir, we are detecting two heat sources from the debris field!" One of the officers on the _Vesalius's_ bridge shouted. "One heading for Artemis, and the other heading for the Debris Belt!"

"A decoy is being used," Rau announced in realization. "Set course for Artemis! They could never make it to Luna without a resupply somewhere!"

"Roger!" the helmsman replied as he began angling the ship to head towards Artemis.

Inside the hangar however, Jaden's eyes were narrowed as he heard the coordinates. '_It's too predictable..._' he thought. '_Hisanaga had to know we know they'd never make the run to Luna HQ without support... so he'd know that we'd know that, and that we would cut them off from Artemis._' He then activated the comm to the bridge. "Commander Le Cruset, please allow myself to launch, and inform Nicol to launch in the Blitz on the _Gamow_," he said. "We're heading towards the debris belt."

"_Very well, Jaden,_" Creuset allowed. "_I will allow you to pursue this course of action, but be sure to maintain regular contact._"

"Roger that sir, I'll keep you updated." he said, before he brought up a Comm with Nicol. "Nicol! You're coming with me, we're heading for the Debris belt in case the _Archangel _makes a move to Luna H.Q."

"_Understood!_" Nicol informed as the Blitz moved towards the hangar doors. "_I've got your back!_"

Jaden was the first to launch, but not before he grabbed a large black container and latched it onto his suit, with the emblem of explosives on it. He entered the launch catapult first. "Jaden Takeo, GiNN Custom, Let's rock and Roll!"

_Meanwhile, aboard the _Archangel

"_They have launched two mobile suits... we have confirmed the IFF's a Custom GiNN and the Blitz!_" CIC announced over the comm.

"Understood," Ryu informed. "T-minus 10 seconds until detonation..."

"I guess he wanted to cover both possibilities, with a small group on the Debris Belt Route while the rest go to Artemis," Takeshi remarked, before grinning. "Not that it matters, though-we're not going to let them follow us. I am hopeful they take out Garcia for us, though."

"Yeah," Mu agreed with a nod. "Besides, that's why we are leaving the second ship intact, so they won't easily catch on..."

"Detonating!" Ryu announced as he pressed the trigger.

_Meanwhile, with Jaden and Nicole_

"_Jaden, the _Vesalius!" Nicole shouted, as their two suits looked back just in time to see several explosions erupt along the bottom of the _Vesalius,_ the force of the blast forcing it to move up. "_What happened? The enemy couldn't have gotten a shot off-_"

"It wasn't a shot," Jaden said. "It was part of their plan... the hacker must have done something to the sensors to allow a mobile unit to plant bombs along the hull..."

"_We gotta go back and help-_"

"The Commander and _Vesalius _can handle herself, she's been through tougher times," Jaden said, "Plus the _Gamow _can still provide support, and they still have Mobile Suits. We keep on towards the Debris Field, I'm not letting myself be distracted this time!"

"_I hope you know what you're doing, Jaden..._" Nicole whispered softly.

_Aboard the Archangel_

"_The GiNN and Blitz are continuing their pursuit of the Decoy, second ZAFT vessel is moving to support the _Vesalius." Comms reported.

"Like I thought," Ryu whispered. "He's obsessed. Amy, Matthew, you two are on standby for this sortie."

"_Alright..._" Amy said, somewhat relieved that she wouldn't have to fight her brother again.

"_Understood, Ryu,_" Matt said, sounding just as relieved.

"Mu, Takeshi, take out the Blitz, capture if possible, but force it to retreat at the very least." Ryu ordered as he moved the Duo to the Hangar. "I think it's time for me and Jaden to settle things, are you sure you want to be in here when it happens Kira?"

"Yeah," Kira confirmed looking down at Ryu with a smile. "I'm beside you, for better... or worse."

"Understood," Ryu said with a smirk, looking back over his shoulder from the control seat of the Duo. "Ryu Hisanaga and Kira Yamato, in the Duo... LAUNCHING!"

"Takeshi Yamato, Tempest Gundam, IKU ZE!"

"Mu la Flaga, Zero, TAKING FLIGHT!"

The three units streaked out of the _Archangel _and banked towards the two mobile suits on approach.

_Meanwhile, with Jaden and Nicol_

The Blitz and Jaden's GiNN moved through the debris belt, maneuvering around remains of vessels and colonies. "Alright, this looks like the place they'll go through," Jaden said. "Nicol, activate your Mirage Colloid. When I give the word, hit 'em."

"_Got it,_" Nicol said, as the Blitz disappeared from sight. "_What are you doing?_"

Jaden grinned as he picked out the large explosive container. "Grabbed a few dozen Anti-M.S Mines from the _Vesalius,_ they're set for remote Detonation so they can't be detected," he said. "Hide them in the debris, and they'll never see them coming... stand by."

Jaden then proceeded to place the mines throughout the Debris field, doing so quickly before The E.A Mobile suits arrived. Once the last mine was in-place, he moved the GiNN just outside of the minefield, and put the suit into standby mode to minimize power consumption and to decrease its heat hence-force reducing the chance of it being detected. He watched on the cameras as he waited for the EA suits to approach, his hands hovering over the detonator of the Mines.

'_This may not damage your suit, Hisanaga..._' he thought, '_But it will give me an advantage._'

_Meanwhile, with Ryu_

Ryu took a calming breath as he manipulated the controls of the Duo, expertly guiding it through the debris of _Heliopolis. _'_Empty my mind of all thought,_' He ordered himself, relaxing his body as he did so. '_Remove all hesitations, all fears... there is only... _the objective!'

Kira frowned slightly as she looked at Ryu from the secondary seat. Closing her eyes, she took a cleansing breath and focused herself on the task at hand, fully integrating the software of the Duo to accommodate the upgraded hacking software Ryu quickly patched into the Duo.

It was a 'quick fix' as he called it, but it would do the job until they could get it properly installed.

As the Duo, along with Takeshi and Mu in their respective units soared through the debris, Jaden and Nicol watched their sensors as they approached. Jaden's hand hovered over the detonator for the mines. '_A bit more..._' he thought, '_A little bit more..._' The three units passed into the 'Kill zone', and Jaden grinned "Gotcha," and pressed the trigger.

Suddenly, with the three units, the first set of mines exploded around them, ones closest to debris sending wrecks flying around them. "SHIT!" Ryu and Kira both shouted simultaneously, as they pulled the Duo up and around, trying to avoid hitting the debris or explosions.

"_Looks like the Demon learned a couple of tricks,_" Takeshi remarked over the radio, even as the Tempest dodged to the left. "_Ryu, Imouto, think you can take him on by yourselves while the Hawk and I take on the Blitz?_"

As this happened, Jaden's hand hovered over the second detonator switch for the second field of mines. '_And... now,_' he thought, as he pressed the button, followed by several more detonations across the debris field. Debris was once again sent flying, and one chunk of debris hitting the Moebius Zero of Mu La Flaga, destroying one of its Gunbarrels and damaging a second.

"_Dammit!_" Mu cursed over the radio as the Moebius Zero sailed out of the debris of the explosion, closely followed by the Tempest. "_You'll have to take the lead on this one, Takeshi!_"

"_Roger that,_" Takeshi replied, even as the Tempest began searching the debris for the Blitz. "_Gonna be a bit tricky taking on an invisible foe... but I think I'm up to the task. Do you think you can keep going, Hawk, or do you want to pull back for repairs?_"

"_Just who the hell do you think you're talking to, Tempest!_" Mu shouted back, a grin obviously on his face. "_I've faced worst odds before!_"

Jaden had just pressed the third button, as the third and final detonation of mines were set off, once again sending debris everywhere. He still had a few surviving mines in the field, but those were being saved for later. "Nicole, the Moebius Zero and that other E.A mobile suit is splitting off - probably looking for you. Engage Mirage Colloid and take 'em out. Be careful, and when you're running low on power, fall back."

"_Roger,_" Nicole said, as the Blitz disappeared from sensors.

"Man, I have GOT to get that..." Jaden muttered, before he sighed and looked at the sensors. With all of the debris now flying around, it was difficult to spot Ryu's MS in the mess. But Jaden sighed, and focused around the area, as he searched for any odd movements, even so much as a twitch in his direction. '_Where are you, Hisanaga..._' he thought. '_I know you're here..._'

"_You are definitely Ace material, Jaden Takeo,_" Jaden jolted as Ryu's voice piped in from his radio. "_But... you will never reach any higher than that... you will never stand at the very top of the battlefield._" A bluish beam of energy erupted from the debris field and shot straight for Jaden's GiNN. Jaden cursed as he bursted the GiNN's thrusters at max, as he soared upwards, avoiding the beam as it hit the stray piece of debris he was hiding before moments before.

"You make it sound like that's my goal," Jaden growled on the comm, as he scanned the area the beam came from, but he already knew Ryu was long gone from that point. "I have no interest in being the best, I do not want to be ZAFT's number one ace, all I want is to avenge Commander Cole's death!"

"_You still haven't learned it then have you?_" Ryu asked, there was no humor in his voice, no sense of mocking, if anything, it sounded almost like a teacher instructing a student. "_The truth of the battlefield..._"

"I _know _what the truth of the battlefield is!" Jaden said, as he took cover behind a wrecked transport ship "People die in war, I know that. I know it was possible he would die, I knew it was possible my friends would die... I knew it was possible I would die. That's what Cole taught me..." he then snarled. "But you didn't just kill him in battle, Hisanaga... you _murdered _him, in cold blood."

"_So have you,_" Came the response, followed closely by a long suffering sigh. "_Or how would you explain it to the hundreds of family members of the soldiers _you _have killed?_"

"DON'T YOU MOCK ME!" Jaden shouted, "You think I want to be called a Demon? You think I don't think about all the people I killed? I think about it every single fucking day this war goes on! But there is a difference between what I do, and what _you _did to Commander Cole!"

"_Is there?_" Ryu asked. "_You think I like being saddled with all of these titles, you think that I don't know how many people would gladly run a knife through my heart given half the chance? You have much to learn boy, and even as an Ace, you are not able to stand on the same level as me. For only those who see the truth, can stand on the level of Super Ace._"

"I told you, I don't want to be the best!" Jaden shouted, as he checked all of his surroundings. "And you must like some of those titles... you say you're such a good guy, but I know the truth. Cole could've survived that battle! His machine was damaged... but he could've survived." He then snarled, "But I know what you did! You found his CGUE, you got him out, and you stabbed him to death almost a dozen times! He didn't deserve to die like some animal! I know you did it! I saw your damn mobile suit leaving the area I found the Commander and his CGUE! That is why we're different! You're a monster, and I'm not!"

"_And yet, you look no further than what you see,_" Ryu informed, his voice heavy with regret. "_I was hoping you would be the one... but you are not. I am ending this charade boy, prepare whatever meager defense you wish, nothing will change your outcome._"

"There is nothing else to see," Jaden said. "I don't know what you're talking about, but this ends here." Jaden felt a familiar jolt in his spine, as he pushed his MS upwards just as three beams were fired, hitting the ship he was hiding behind moments before as it exploded. A few moments later he brought out his Laser Sword, and swung it to the side, just in time to catch the blade of the Duo Gundam.

"_Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, as we are made, as so we shall return,_" Ryu's voice was calm, something within it sent an unnatural chill through his spine. "_And only in death, shall we see our final truth._" The Duo's engines burst to life, pushing the GiNN back. As the Duo pushed, Ryu skillfully manipulated the controls to suddenly slide out of the deadlock and hurdle behind Jaden where he spun on a dime to strike at his back.

However, Jaden reacted quickly, using the GiNN's modified thrusters to spin as well, narrowly catching Ryu's attack which just grazed his shoulder plate of his GiNN. Jaden then delivered a hard shove, forcing the Duo back as he dived down, and the Duo followed after him. Jaden rounded the corner of an old ship, his right hand drawing his Laser sword, once again catching Ryu's first strike as he rounded the corner. However with the GiNN's left arm, he grabbed something from the wreckage of the ship "Think Fast!" He shouted, as he shoved the object into the Duo's face before darting off. Ryu barely had time to register the object was a mine, before Jaden hit the detonation switch and the mine blew up in the Duo's face.

Jaden spun around, drawing his XMA-M21G Proto-Beam Rifle, and fired several shots where the blast went off.

"_Not bad,_" Ryu's voice said through his radio again, this time his voice seemed oddly... nostalgic. "_On the spot reactionary thinking mixed with pre-planning, James always was a good teacher._"

The dust settled, and the Duo was no longer there, and once again Jaden felt a familiar Jolt as he flanked right to avoid a charge from the Duo below. "Don't talk like you knew him!" Jaden shouted, "Cole never knew you! If you did you wouldn't have butchered him!"

"_On the contrary, we were good friends, as much as you can be on the battlefield._" Ryu informed, his voice sad as Jade was forced to dodge a series of lasers in rapid succession. "_He just had the misfortune of running into me after the woman who I loved with all my heart was killed right before my eyes._"

Jaden growled, as he expertly dodged the beams. "Don't you fucking lie to me, and don't try to make me sympathetic to what you really are with excuses." He fired his Shield Vulcan at the source of the beams, but quickly accelerated away when more were fired his way.

"_I know what I am far more than you do,_" Ryu informed, his voice harsh for the briefest of seconds. "_But... do this for James, do not blind yourself with preconceptions of Black and White, for, in war, there are never any victors, only victims..._"

Jaden was breathing heavily, a few tears coming out of his eyes as his grip on his controls tightened as Ryu said the exact thing Cole had told him. "Don't... you _**Fucking DARE MOCK HIM!**_" He shouted, and suddenly he saw a bright crimson red jewel-like seed, which shattered behind his eyes which became slitted like a Demon, and he let out a screeching roar, as he charged at Ryu, his Laser Sword and charged, unleashing a rapid set of attacks upon Ryu's M.S.

As Ryu and Kira dueled with Jaden, Takeshi and Mu were busy dodging beams from the Blitz.

In the Tempest's cockpit, Takeshi had his eyes closed as he reached out with his Spatial Awareness. '_Come on..._' he thought as he searched for the unique presence of the Blitz's pilot. '_I know you're out there somewhere... there!_'

The Tempest suddenly spun around as he fired a blast from the Exia in Rifle Mode, the beam seeming to fly in a random direction... only to splash against what seemed to be nothing at all, and the Blitz faded into existence, shield positioned to block the shot that had, to Nicol's mind, almost seemed to seek him out.

"_You're making this too easy, rookie!_" Came a shout as Mu flow in from behind, his two remaining gunbarrels opening fire on the back of the Blitz as the linear cannon prepared to fire. "_Not even aware of your surroundings!_"

"Counting on your precious Mirage Colloid to protect you, no doubt!" Takeshi called out, flying towards the Blitz as the Exia switched to Sword Mode. "But no matter how invisible you become to scanners and the naked eye..." the Exia swung down, cleaving through the Blitz's right arm and thereby depriving the machine of its Trikeros Shield. "...your mind is still visible to those with the correct talents to sense it!"

"_Unfortunately for you... half of the pilots on the _Archangel _have those talents._" Mu added as he hurtled past, a tow cable launching out and wrapping itself around the Blitz's torso and dragging it through a couple of somewhat intact walls of the Colony.

"We're not savages, so we won't kill you..." Takeshi remarked, even as he flew after the Blitz, the Exia now cleaving off the Blitz's Left arm and removing its Gleipnir, leaving it completely defenseless. "However, your machine belongs to the _Archangel_... and we're taking it back!"

The fight between Ryu and Jaden continued, with Jaden still on the offensive, as he struck the Duo. Although Ryu was defensive, Jaden was causing some damage to his suit, but nothing major as of yet. He had launched four of his DRAGOON's earlier, but Jaden had gunned them down with his Shield Vulcans.

Almost all of Jaden's mind was focused on the Duo, his surroundings, ammo, and energy supply. Jaden refused to hold back, as he knew he had to finish this soon. Jaden was so focused on his target, that he almost didn't hear Nicol's Comm go off.

"_Jaden! Jaden! I need help here!_" Nicole shouted, "_The Moebius Zero has me caught in its wires! They're dragging me back to their ship!_"

Jaden blinked as his eyes returned back to normal. "What?" He asked, as he checked his sensors and saw the two enemies dragging the Blitz away.

Jaden glared back at the Duo, before he let out a sigh. "Nicol, hang tight, I'm coming!" He said, as he turned around. He then keyed his Comm. "Next time, Ryu... you're not going to be so lucky." He growled. "Say whatever the fuck you want, but nothing changes the fact you butchered Cole like an animal. And that I am not going to forgive you for." And with that, he darted away, moving quickly to save his friend.

As the Moebius Zero dragged the Blitz back to the _Archangel_, Takeshi and the Tempest flew alongside carrying the Blitz's severed arms. Suddenly, Takeshi's Spatial Awareness spiked, alerting him to an incoming presence... one he'd gone up against a few times before. He let go of the arms, even as the Exia snapped into Sword Mode. "We've got company, Hawk!" he called out. "Keep bringing the Blitz back to the _Archangel_, I'll keep this guy busy!"

"_Roger that,_" Mu replied, even as the Moebius Zero's thrusters started putting out more thrust "_Good luck, Takeshi._"

Takeshi nodded, having the Tempest repeat the action, before zooming towards the incoming presence, Exia coming up to block a strike from the GiNN's Laser Sword. He keyed his comm. "So, decided to try and rescue your comrade over completing your revenge, Demon of Endymion?" he asked. "Glad to see you're not a total _teme_. However, the Blitz belongs to the _Archangel_, and that's where it's go-"

Takeshi was cut off, as the GiNN shoved forward, hitting the Tempest's chest area, before firing its Shield Vulcan in-between its right shoulder-joint, the area was only lightly protected with PS Armor, and was almost blown off. He then kicked the Tempest away, and surprisingly he grabbed the Blitz's arm, removing its Trikeros Shield. Detaching his own Vulcan Shield, he attached the Blitz shield in its place, before charging towards the Moebius Zero and the Blitz.

"_The EA took away my father,_" Jaden said. "_They almost took my siblings, and they took away a person I loved so much... I'll be damned before you take my friends!_" In a massive display of speed, the GiNN accelerated towards the Moebius Zero, and using the Shield's beam saber, he cut off the wires which tangled the Blitz. "_Nicol! We're getting out of here!_"

"_R-Right!_" Nicol said, as both MS soared back to their own mothership.

Takeshi watched as they flew away, but sent one last transmission after them. "Very good resolve, Demon," he said. "However, I was contracted to protect this ship and the Prototypes until they reached the safety of either the Moonbase or Alaska-and I'll do whatever I can to reclaim all the ones you managed to take!"

"_You won't,_" he responded, causing Takeshi to blink. "_For as long as my friends pilot the Gundams... you will not get a single one back. I will _not _let the Earth Forces desecrate the true meaning of a Gundam._" And with that, his MS was out of Comm range, leaving a confused Takeshi as to what he meant by 'True meaning of a Gundam'. '_What does he mean by that?_' he asked himself.

"_Leave them for now, Takeshi,_" Ryu ordered, his voice neutral. "_Our mission has been accomplished._"

"Roger that," Takeshi replied, turning the Tempest around and making his way back to the _Archangel_, stopping only to retrieve the arms he'd severed from the Blitz earlier, the Gleipnir still attached to one of them. "However, unless something happens to alter or cancel my contract with the EA, I'll do whatever I can to take those machines back. That's a promise."

On the way back to the ship, though, the Tempest's comm system beeped at Takeshi, signifying an incoming message from Terminal.

"Didn't know there were any other Terminal Assets in the area..." he muttered, bringing the message up, which revealed it to be a text message.

As he read through the message, his eyes slowly widened. By the time he finished reading and started keying in a private comm channel to the Duo, he was utterly shocked at the turn of events. "Ryu..." he said, shock still in his voice, "Once we get back to the _Archangel_, I need to see you, Kira, Matthew, Amy, and the Princess in my quarters ASAP." He looked over the text message again, saving it to a portable storage device as he continued, "I think things just got a bit more complicated..."

END CHAPTER!


	3. Chapter 3: Ripples Through Space

Disclaimer: This is a Story, based on a Story, based on a Story that I do not own, so if you'd kindly... _**SCREW OFF!**_

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

"_Radio"_

Chapter Three: Ripples Through Space

_Archangel, Bridge_

"Bridge secured, all observational devices deactivated." Kira announced as she looked up from the computer console she had been working on to make sure any and all listening devices were inactive.

"Alright Takeshi, what's going on?" Ryu asked seriously as he leant on the console between the pilot and co-pilot's seats.

The majority of the upper-staff had been gathered, the ship set onto autopilot and most of the bridge crew dismissed, all in all, occupying the bridge at the time were the pilots, Murrue, Natarle, Murdoch and Neumann.

Takeshi sighed. "I just got a text message from Terminal Command - most likely routed to me from some other Terminal Assets in the area. Who those assets are, I have no idea, but it's more than likely a stealth ship of some kind. As to the contents of the message... well... see for yourself..."

He plugged the portable storage device he'd saved the message on into another console, and then tapped a few controls, causing the contents of the message to appear on the Bridge's main display screen.

_Azure Tempest_

_The situation of Heliopolis has been reported to ORB Representatives, and as of 0:00 last night ORB has enacted Article 1 of our Treaty, we are withdrawing _all _Terminal Assets to their nearest base in preparation for waging a Shadow War against the EA and ZAFT alongside of ORB._

_This next part is in reference to the crew of the _Archangel, _the Benefactors are extending an invitation for the crew of the _Archangel _to join Terminal, or even asylum during this Conflict._

_There is also an Invitation for both Ryu Hisanaga and Mu la Flaga in particular, their service record allows them to join with the Rank of Squad Commander and Lieutenant respectively._

_Agent Yamato, you are hereby ordered to make your way to Terminal Command Asteroid _New Platea _to receive new orders, should the crew of the _Archangel _not be willing to accept our offer, leave and send a signal using Theta Sigma code to the enclosed coordinates for a ride, if otherwise send a signal using Alpha Centauri code to the coordinates._

_With Regards_

_Fleet Admiral David Anderson._

In the few moments of silence as the others in the room read the message, Takeshi looked around the room, gauging their reactions.

Ryu and Mu were exchanging words with their eyes, quite obviously tempted by the offer.

Kira's jaw was slack as her eyes were continually re-reading the message over and over.

The Command Staff of the _Archangel _were in a similar position to his sister, slack-jawed as they almost seemed to be doubting the validity of the contents.

Cagalli looked deeply perturbed at the news that her homeland was gearing for war, a frown creasing her face as hundreds of thoughts crossed her mind.

Both Matthew and Amy had reactions of wide eyes of shock, reading the message again to make sure their eyes were not playing tricks "O-Orb's going to war...?" Amy repeated...

"I knew they'd do something after the attack... but going straight to War?" Matthew asked, just as disbelievingly.

"It's been building," Ryu informed, breaking off his silent conversation with Mu. "ORB has been a sleeping Lion from the very beginning, and don't forget, ORB was affected by both Junius Seven and the April Fool's Crisis. This was just the final straw."

"Yeah," Takeshi remarked, bringing everyone's attention back to him. "Things have been heating up for a while in regards to ORB and Terminal - I'm not privy to all the details, but apparently the higher-ups have been getting worried about some of the more radical elements in both the EA and ZAFT Governments, and I could tell that all it would take would be just one incident for both ORB and Terminal to enter the war... the only question would be on which side.

"And that question has just been answered: Their own," Takeshi continued. "They are fed up with both the EA and ZAFT, and will be fighting both of them in an attempt to truly bring this war to an end before it gets out of hand. The question now lies before each of you: What will you do? Will you side with the EA, which is becoming increasingly Anti-Coordinator? Will you side with ZAFT, whose higher-ups and top aces are becoming more Anti-Natural? Or will you side with Terminal and ORB, who are fighting for what is right?"

Ryu and Mu exchanged looks again before giving each other nods. "We're in," Ryu announced, getting slight gasps from some of the Command Staff. "Yuna... she has a brother who is a Captain within Terminal... and I think we owe it to ourselves to do this."

"I'm in, too," Kira said. "Where Ryu goes, I go."

"I'm not leaving, either," Amy said, stepping forward. "If it means I can help... I will. I still need to see why Jaden-nii joined ZAFT."

Matthew sighed. "Normally I'd object... but hell, if you're doing it, I gotta do it, too," he groaned. "Mom would _kill _me if anything happened to you."

"ORB is my country," Cagalli remarked. "I'll do what I can to defend it, even though I want to give my father a piece of my mind and ask him what he's thinking by choosing this path."

Takeshi nodded. "Well, Captain, Miss Badgiruel, Mister Neumann, Mister Murdoch, that leaves you four. Where do you stand?"

"I'm in," Murdoch announced, getting looks from the rest of the Command Staff. "I've been on the verge of jumping ship for Terminal ever since Endymion."

"It'll be good to have you around, Murdoch," Ryu informed with a smile. "My suit never feels like it's running optimally unless you're running the maintenance crews."

Takeshi smiled. Having a good mechanic around never hurt. "What about you, Mister Neumann?" he asked the helmsman.

Before Neumann could come up with an answer however, Kira, who was working on her Computer console, shouted, "What the Hell?" causing everyone to look at her, as she glared up at Murrue and Natarle, glaring daggers. "Did you know about these fucking orders?" she shouted.

"W-What orders?" Murrue asked, sounding confused. She glanced at Natarle, who shrugged just as confused.

Kira looked back on her console. "I just found these orders on the late Captain's logs," she said. "If anything, it was a _good _thing ZAFT attacked!"

Matthew, and everyone else looked at her oddly. "Kira, what are you talking about?" Matt asked. "ZAFT destroyed the colony!"

"Yeah, but at least they tried not to kill civilians," Kira said. "It turns out the last Captain of the _Archangel _had gotten another order from EA Command: Once the _Archangel _secures the G-Weapons, they were to destroy the whole colony with the G-Weapons and the _Archangel, _and make it look like ZAFT destroyed the colony, forcing ORB to go to war with ZAFT! They were going to _deliberately _kill everyone on the colony, and whoever resisted! They wanted to make sure ORB didn't copy any data for their own use!"

Sharp inhalations echoed throughout the bridge as the eyes of the occupants widened. "That answers my question..." Neumann said with a growl. "No way in hell am I working for the EA anymore after learning that... Captain? Ensign?"

Murrue swallowed as she shook her shock off. "I agree," she informed seriously. "I cannot in good conscience work for such an organization."

Natarle looked the most shaken as she read the orders on the console. "It's true, by the order of the Admiralty Council..." She whispered, before looking at Murrue with wide eyes. "Ma'am, we need to inform Admiral Halburton of this, no way in _hell _would he sign off on this!"

"You've all made the right choice," Takeshi remarked. He removed the storage device he had used to show them the message, and then handed it to Kira. "Imouto, the coordinates Admiral Anderson wanted a reply sent to will be in there, and I also included the proper codes for whether we all came or only some of us. if you could key up a reply message, including the information you just got from the Captain's Logs, as well as a request to get that information to Halberton if they can, and send it off using the Alpha Centauri Code, I'd really appreciate it."

Kira smiled as she accepted the flash drive. "Got it, Take-nii," she informed as she rapidly began to type away at the computer. "Also I'm adding in access codes to the Kira Special I planted on the ZAFT Ship, with it undoubtedly heading back for repairs it'll be uploaded to their mainframe then throughout the fleet."

Takeshi smiled. "I never really experienced your hacking skills before, Imouto..." he said, "...but now that I've seen them in action, I have to say that I've never seen anyone as good as you."

Kira grinned, an evil hue taking shape around her. "Oh, you've seen _nothing _yet, Take-nii..." she informed with an evil chuckle.

Ryu groaned as he palmed his face. "Great Takeshi, thanks a lot, you set off her 'Evil Tyrant Mode'," he said with a heavy sigh as Kira's chuckle turned into a cackle.

Takeshi chuckled a bit. "As long as she turns it on ZAFT and the EA, that's fine by me," he said. His expression turned serious again as he turned to Murrue. "Captain, you might want to address the crew and the refugees. Let them know what's going on, what we just learned, and where we're heading. Everyone on this ship faces the same choice you faced, and knowing all the facts will help them make the choice they feel is right." '_And maybe give Flay Allster the wake-up call she needs when she learns that her own government - maybe even her own father - was willing to sacrifice her without batting an eye._'

Ryu let out a sigh at the thought of that. "ORB civilians will be angry, but supportive..." He informed as he looked out the viewport into space before pushing off against the console. "Can you wait a few minutes before sending off the message Kira?" He requested of his girlfriend as he drifted towards the door. "I have a message that I need Terminal to deliver for me."

Kira blinked but nodded as she paused in her typing. "Sure..." She agreed, her mouth opened to ask a question, but she paused as she saw the look on his face.

It was a strange one... it looked happy... but at the same time it looked extremely sad. "I'll be right back," he informed, looking over to Kira. "It's been waiting for this day for quite a while now..."

With those words Ryu left the bridge, presumably heading for his quarters.

"I wonder what it is he's wanting to send," Takeshi remarked as he watched Ryu leave. "And who it is he wants to send it to..."

Kira shrugged as she resumed typing, changing the program window to the _Archangel's _Operation System, updating all of the software on the warship. "He does things like that from time to time," she informed, unworried and unconcerned. "He's asked me to encrypt a few and help him send them off to some contact he has in Terminal, probably the Captain he mentioned."

"Right," Takeshi remarked. "Makes sense..." He then turned back to Murrue. "Anyway, once we get that message off, we should continue on to the Debris Belt like we originally planned," he said. "_New Platea_ is one of our Asteroid Bases that uses the Debris Belt for camouflage. And if anyone among the crew wants to return to the EA even after we disclose what Kira just learned, we can send them off in a lifeboat before we enter the belt, giving them enough supplies that they should be able to make it to Ptolemaeus."

Murrue nodded in agreement and turned to Natarle. "Ensign, can you please marshal the crew members in the hanger please? I will be addressing them personally." Natarle nodded and saluted before going to follow the order. "Mr. Yamato, would you please inform the civilians of this development?"

"Sure," he remarked. "I should probably wait for Ryu, however - if any of the civilians get a bit unruly, he should be able to keep them under control."

"That I can do," Ryu informed as he walked in carrying a flashdrive that he handed to Kira. "Mark it for Drake Falcon and put a message saying 'The May Rain is Beginning.' He'll understand what it means." He turned back to Takeshi. "After I put the smackdown on some unruly Blue Cosmos supporters, people learned to shut up and sit down when I say so."

"Good to hear it," Takeshi replied. He turned to Neumann. "Mister Neumann, once Kira-Imouto sends that message off, we should start heading for the Debris Belt." At Neumann's nod, Takeshi turned back to Ryu and said, "Well, let's go, Ryu - time to let the civilians know what's going on. You can come with us as well, Cagalli, unless you were planning on doing anything else."

Cagalli shook her head. "No, I will go with you, it is my responsibility as the daughter of the Chief Representative to ensure the safety of the ORB citizens on this ship." She informed determinedly.

Ryu smirked. "Alright then, but I will say this only once, if someone gets physical, let me handle it," he instructed. "I'm certain Lord Uzumi had you trained in Self-Defense, but I don't want to be the one to explain why his daughter's arm was broken."

Takeshi nodded in agreement as the three walked out of the Bridge. "Neither do I," he remarked.

Vesalius, _Jaden's Quarters_

Jaden was lying, or more rather floating above the bed in his quarters on the _Vesalius, _staring up at the ceiling. '_I had him..._' he thought, '_I just had to lure him into my last minefield... then I would've had him..._'

Jaden let out a small growl, before he put it down. He knew he had to choose between his friends or revenge, and unlike many other people he could mention, he would always pick his friends over Revenge if they were in danger. '_I'm not that blind,_' he thought.

The Blitz had taken quite a number from the battle, and it was going to be sent back to the homeland along with Athrun, Le Creuset, and the Aegis for repairs, as the council had also called them back for the report on Heliopolis. They said they were sending a few ships to replace the _Vesalius _in the chase for the _Archangel,_ but not before they accomplished another objective they needed completed.

However, before the Blitz was transferred, with Nicol's permission and the Commander's go-ahead, he had removed the Blitz's Mirage Colloid, and refit his GiNN with it so now it had its same stealth systems, as well as permanently mounting the Trikeros Offensive/Defensive shield unit onto its arm. The Blitz would have those weapons and systems replaced with the data they had gathered.

Suddenly, however, his computer beeped to life, as he glanced at the screen, a message from his AI Lucy. '_Jaden, I found something._'

Jaden blinked as he sat up straight and typed on the Computer.

_Jaden: What's up_

_Lucy: Jaden, during the battle I intercepted a long-range message, it was a heavily encrypted, High Terminal-base Communique directed at the _Archangel, _specifically towards one of the G-Weapons, the one we ID'd as the Tempest._

_Jaden: What was in it? Did you de-encrypt it?_

_Lucy: Yeah... and we have a huge problem._

Lucy then began showing him what was in the message. Jaden read through it, his eyes narrowing as he read before he growled. "Damnit, Le Creuset!" he shouted. "I warned you this would happen!" He then proceeded to the bridge of the _Vesalius, _his laptop in hand.

_Meanwhile, on the _Vesalius _Bridge_

"Once the fleet arrives, we shall make way for the Homeland," Rau said to Athrun, Nicol, and Ades, "We will meet them just outside the Artemis defense line, I can only assume that they want us to attempt a strike-"

"Le Creuset!" Jaden's voice shouted, as he came into the bridge, glaring daggers at the Commander. "Congratulations Commander, you just forced ZAFT into a Multi-front war!"

Even though he was wearing a mask, Rau quite obviously had an eyebrow risen. "What is it, Jaden?" He asked curiously, an odd sense of trepidation rising up within him.

"Lucy intercepted a transmission from Terminal, directed at the _Archangel, _and the pilot of the _Tempest_," Jaden said, still glaring at him. "Terminal _and _Orb are declaring war on both ZAFT and the Earth Forces for the attack on Heliopolis, and what the EA were doing since the Orb government had _NO _idea what was going on here!"

"_What?_" Ades asked, his eyes wide with fear. He suddenly turned onto Creuset with an angry glare. "I fucking told you, Creuset!" The crew stared at the Captain in surprise, Ades was notorious for never raising his voice... _ever, _and he _always _respected protocol and referred to superiors by rank and never by name. "I fucking told you this would happen!"

"Jaden, are you sure?" Athrun asked, and Jaden nodded as he pulled out his laptop and showed the message.

"100%," he said. "It's been signed by both the Commander of Terminal, _and _Uzumi Nara Attha. They're going to be striking ZAFT and EA targets soon. For now it's only starting off as a Shadow war, but it's going to evolve into full-scale invasions before long." He once again glared at the Commander. "Now, we gotta fight a war on _three _Fronts: Earth Forces, Orb, _and _Terminal. And this also means we have lost any support Terminal would be willing to provide us, which weakens us even more! And now the EA and Orb have access to Mobile Weapons far superior to a standard GiNN!"

Nicol, looking over the message, said, "You might be jumping the gun a bit when saying the EA has access to them, Jaden." When they all turned to look at him, he pointed at a portion of the message and clarified his point by saying, "Look here - the message is basically extending an offer for the _Archangel_ and its crew to defect from the EA to join Terminal. If they accept, it means that the EA doesn't have access to its G-Weapons. If nothing else, that might delay their development of mass-production units since they will have to build new prototypes - and this time they won't have any help from Morgenroete."

Jaden shook his head. "Nicol, I like your optimism, but as much as I hate the EA, they're not idiots," he said, surprising Nicol. "I doubt they threw all of their biscuits in the basket with Heliopolis. They knew there would be a chance they were discovered, so they would have to have more Prototypes that they were building elsewhere, without us knowing about it. More ideally, somewhere deeper within E.A-controlled territory, or at a facility we don't even know about. The Earth Forces would most likely steal the data developed here at Heliopolis to further their own development projects."

"This changes things," Ades informed before turning to one of the officers. "Get me a link to the council yesterday! They need a status update _now!_"

"Y-yessir!" the officer replied, having overheard the entire conversation and therefore knowing, in his personal opinion, how deeply ZAFT was screwed. He sat down at the communications console, and established the communication as quickly as physically able, the Main Display Screen soon showing an image of the Supreme Council Chambers.

"Captain Ades, Commander Creuset, I thought you were coming in person to make your report," said the Supreme Chairman, Siegel Clyne, in surprise.

"Unfortunately sir, we have just received some critical news that you must hear," Ades said seriously. "Takeo, if you please."

Jaden nodded as he plugged his computer in, to show them the message "Councilors, I regret to inform you that, because of Le Creuset's _reluctance _to wait until the Earth Forces left Heliopolis before attacking, thus resulting in the destruction of Heliopolis... Terminal and Orb are declaring war on both ZAFT _and _the Earth Forces."

For the briefest of seconds, Jaden could've sworn that Siegel's eyes narrowed angrily, but he shook it off as his imagination as Siegel gasped in shock with the rest of the council. "Commander Creuset... you do realize what this means do you not?" Siegel asked, his eyes narrowing instantly onto the masked commander.

"I stand by my actions," Rau informed proudly.

"Very well, you are to return for a court martial," Siegel informed seriously. "At this time you are hereby stripped of your rank. Pilot Takeo, you are to take charge of the pilots in his place until his replacement arrives."

_This _bit of information surprised Rau, Nicole, Ades, and _everyone _on the bridge, including Jaden. "S-Sir?" Jaden asked, not sure he heard correctly.

"Those are your orders, Pilot Takeo," Siegel informed seriously, his eyes turning to Rau who was on the verge of speaking. "Creuset, your actions have led to the figurative sleeping giant awakening, it is good that they have not joined us, but you _were _responsible for destroying _their _colony. We cannot allow this to slide."

Rau swallowed the words he was about to say and bowed his head, relenting to the Supreme Councillor. "I understand, sir..." he informed quietly before stepping back.

Siegel turned back to Jaden. "Pilot Takeo, you are hereby ordered to cease your pursuit of the Legged Ship," he ordered, getting gasps of surprise of the the occupants of the bridge. "You are ordered to head to the rendezvous of the task force that will be attacking _Artemis _Station, we believe that while the station itself holds no value, their Lightwave barrier system may be useful for protecting the PLANTs."

Jaden seemed a bit reluctant for a few moments, wanting to get back to hunting Hisanaga. However, he knew that the Chairman was correct, with the EA now making their own Mobile Weapons, the PLANT's needed any advantage they could get, and Lightwave barriers could prove a great help in defending the PLANT's from more EA attacks.

"Understood, sir," Jaden said with a salute. "We will meet with the task force, and prepare for the strike. We won't let you down."

Siegel nodded and turned to Ades. "Captain Ades, you are also being reassigned," he announced, surprising the Captain. "Our newest ship is being put into the Task Force as a field test, and you were selected to be the ship's captain at the recommendation from several Commanders and Admirals."

Ades shook off his shock. "Understood, sir," he informed, snapping off a salute. "I'll be sure not to let you down and send you a list of possible replacements for the _Vesalius' _Captain."

Siegel nodded his understanding. "You have your orders," he said as he finished the call. "Godspeed, gentlemen." And with that, the Communication line cut out.

Athrun then looked at Jaden. "Well... I guess I'd better get used to calling you 'Sir' from now on," he said with a dry chuckle.

Jaden groaned. "This is _not _how I planned on being promoted..." he said. "And for the love of god, don't do that Athrun, you know I hate the whole 'no sir yes sir' stuff."

Ades sighed as he took off his cap and ran a hand through his hair. "Why the hell was I selected, I didn't even want to leave this ship..." he groaned to himself. "And who the hell recommended me?"

_Meanwhile, in the _Archangel's_ Mess Hall_

Takeshi, Ryu, and Cagalli now stood at the head of the _Archangel's_ Mess Hall, which had been temporarily converted into an Audience Hall. In front of them were all the refugees they had picked up from Heliopolis, including Flay, as well as Tolle, Miriallia, Sai, and Kuzzey.

"All right," Takeshi began, "You're probably wondering why we called you all here." Seeing a few nods from the audience, he continued, "The reason for this meeting is that we received some new information, and felt it best to inform you about it as soon as possible."

There were more nods from the audience, showing they understood, and Takeshi began. "Word of what happened at _Heliopolis_ has already reached the ORB Homeland, and they and Terminal have come to the decision to declare war on both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance." There were some murmurs from the crowd, but they were halted as Takeshi raised a hand. "Also, one of our pilots managed to find the previous Captain's logs, and discovered some rather shocking information." He paused for a moment and elaborated, "The previous captain of this ship had been ordered by the EA to destroy Heliopolis as soon as the G-Weapons were secured, leaving no survivors and making it look like a ZAFT attack."

Silence reigned in the Mess Hall as the eyes of every civilian were wide with shock as the news settled in onto them.

After a moment to let it sink in, Takeshi continued, "Upon learning about the orders given to the previous Captain, the current Captain and her senior staff all decided to resign from the EA, and accept a recruitment offer from my superiors in Terminal. We are currently on our way to a Terminal Outpost, where we will gear up for our role in the war to come. However, you now have a choice.

"At this moment, the Captain is giving the rest of the crew a choice to either join her in joining Terminal or return to the EA. Those that choose the latter will be sent off in a lifeboat with enough supplies to reach the Earth Forces' Lunar Base. Anyone among you who does not want to return to ORB can join them.

"If you still wish to return to ORB, we can arrange passage for you once we get to our destination. However, you also have a third choice - as a Combat Agent of Terminal, I am hereby extending a recruitment offer to any of you who want to help in the war to come. It will not be made official until we reach our destination, but if you accept my offer I will do what I can to help your official recruitment process to go as smoothly as possible."

"You expect us to believe that?" a voice shouted, causing Takeshi to groan as Flay Allster stood up, glaring at him. "There's no way the Earth Alliance would do that to an Orb Colony!"

"Unfortunately, it's the truth, Miss Allster," Takeshi replied. "I saw the order when my fellow pilot discovered it - it was signed by the Earth Alliance Admiralty Council."

Flay narrowed her eyes at Takeshi. "And why the hell should we believe you?" she demanded. "This could be some sort of trick! My dad wouldn't allow something like that to happen!"

Takeshi opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as Ryu stepped forward. "Miss Allster," he said calmly, all movement in the room pausing as everyone turned to him. "I would like you to come with me for a moment, there is something I believe that you should see."

Flay blinked as she looked at Ryu nervously, but by the look in his eye she knew she probably didn't have a choice in the matter. So she stepped forward, and followed Ryu.

Giving a nod to Takeshi, Ryu left the Mess Hall and moved towards the Hangar of the _Archangel. _"Miss Allster... tell me something," he requested as they walked. "What do you see Coordinators as?"

Flay looked at Ryu surprised, but answered. "They're... Coordinators are just... unnatural," she said. "They're stronger and smarter than humans, they're just... Look at what they did to Earth, its in an energy crisis because of them! And now they attacked Heliopolis without a second thought! They don't care about Naturals, just themselves!"

"True... but they deployed the N-Jammers in order to prevent another nuclear attack on the PLANTs, where thousands of innocent civilians live. Junius Seven's only Military Value was Food Production that fed pretty much _all _of the PLANTs. As for Heliopolis, that was the choice of the Task Force Commander, Rau is a merciless bastard, not all of them are like that. And the reason behind being at _Heliopolis... _they were trying to keep the only edge they have in this war, Mobile Suits. As for not caring about Naturals, that is, except for extremists, mostly untrue. They realize that without Naturals, we Coordinators would not exist, all they want is to be simply left alone to manage their own affairs."

"If that's true, then why are they still fighting the EA?" Flay asked, "They had space! Why did they have to attack Earth itself, and cause so many people to die!" A few tears began to rise in in Flay's eyes. "It's because of Coordinators that my mom is Dead!"

Ryu was silent for a minute as he continued to walk. "I heard of that," he admitted, his voice unchanged. "It is a tragedy that so many innocent people died, actually, there are members of the ZAFT council who hold a memorial for those who died on that day, both Coordinators and Naturals, both were affected by the April Fools tragedy... but can you really blame them, for reacting like that? The EA threw the first punch so to speak, and ZAFT responded, that is how all wars happen... my own family died during the battle for Ontario, killed by Coordinators, but I do not hate them, and not because I myself am a Coordinator, but because I do not judge the race by the actions of a few..."

Flay's hands balled up, a few tears still streaming down her face. "That doesn't excuse them... for killing her..." she said. "And they're still born different... it's just not natural..."

Ryu was silent for a bit before responding. "Does that mean they don't have a soul?" he asked, his voice heavy. "Does that mean they do not have their own wish to live? Does that make their right to life any less important than yours?"

That said, Flay finally stopped as her eyes widened, a few tears still in them. She never thought about it like that. Her father and most of his friends have always told her Coordinators were the enemy, and they were monsters. She never stopped to think if that means they don't have souls or dreams. "I..."

"Every living thing has a soul... some believe even those created by human hands, such as mobile suits, have souls of their own..." Ryu continued as he stopped at the observation deck above the Hangar, looking out at the mobile suits currently docked. "Personally, I believe in that... there have been many times when I was on the battlefield when my suit did something I thought impossible, or a couple extra seconds of power miraculously appeared..." he placed a hand on his chest, feeling the pulse of his heart. "I believe that was my suit's soul trying its best to help me..." he turned to Flay, his green eyes piercing as they met her grey ones. "Do you know, Miss Allster, what it is like to have your soul rejected by others? It is a very painful experience... that is what all Coordinators feel whenever a supporter of Blue Cosmos says that we are not human, that we are monsters, that we deserve to be killed. It is the same on the flip side - Naturals feel the same way whenever a Coordinator Extremist declares themselves superiors to Naturals and that Naturals need to be wiped out in order for Coordinators to reach their full potential..."

He took in a breath and broke the eye lock, and turned back to the mobile suits. "But one only has to looks at these Gundams to see the truth..." he informed, making Flay turn to face them. "G-Weapons, many believe it is Genocide that the G stands for... but they are wrong... it stands for Genesis... the hope for our rebirth, not as Coordinators and Naturals... but as Humans..."

Flay was silent, as she looked at the Gundams in the hangar. It took a minute before Flay finally spoke again. "You... you really think that?" she asked.

"I do," A voice said, as Ryu and Flay turned to see Matthew standing there, leaning on the door frame, a picture in his hand that he looked at. "I know for a fact that's what the G in Gundam meant... that's what Jaden wanted."

Ryu rose an eyebrow at that "What do you mean?" He asked, as Matthew sighed as he flung the picture in his hand towards him. Ryu caught it, and he looked with some surprise on his face. On it was a younger-looking Jaden, Matthew and Amy, Jaden in the center holding a small model, which looked strikingly familiar to the Gundam's, V head crest and everything, only with a pair of steel-looking wings that resembled a bird or angel's.

"My brother... made a model a few years ago, when Mobile Suits first debuted," Matt said. "He loves Mobile Suits... wanted to make and pilot his own... he made that model a while back, saying one day... he would make that machine, and pilot it himself, and keep everyone he cared about safe... he called it a Gundam."

"So that's what he meant," Takeshi said, as he walked into the room with Cagalli behind him. "At the end of the last battle, Jaden said, 'I will not let the Earth Forces desecrate the true meaning of a Gundam.' I wondered what he meant... but hearing that he made the first Gundam, even as a model, puts everything in perspective there."

Matthew chuckled a bit dryly. "Yeah..." he said. "Me and Amy were surprised about the Acronym... Mom works for Morgenroete, so she _had _to have been in its development... it's too much of a coincidence." He then sighed. "Jaden always wanted to work in Morgenroete... to make the Gundam a reality, so he could protect Orb and everyone... but then Junius Seven happened, he left and joined ZAFT. Haven't heard from him since... until now."

Takeshi nodded. "War often does that," he said. "In war, quite often two people who would normally be friends can end up facing each other as sworn enemies... even entire families can be torn apart by war, if they live in opposing countries."

He then turned to Flay, a gentle expression on his face. "I hope you can see things more clearly now, Miss Allster," he said. "I gain nothing by lying to you, or even tricking you. I simply wish to bring this war to an end before it gets out of hand, before one side develops the means to exterminate the other... and now that ORB and Terminal are entering the fray, fighting for that very reason, we have a means to stop the war from getting out of hand."

His expression then turned serious. "Most of the other refugees have already made their choice," he said. "What is yours? Do you wish to leave the ship? Do you wish to return to ORB? Or do you wish to join us in our fight to end this war?"

Flay was silent, thinking about it for a bit. "I... I don't know..." she said, shaking her head. "I... I need to think..."

"Take your time," Ryu informed. "Terminal will be providing transportation for any civilians to a destination of their choice. Think seriously on it."

Flay nodded, before she turned around and left the observation deck, leaving only Matt, Ryu, Takeshi and Cagalli there.

Turning to Ryu, Takeshi said, "Most of the refugees wanted to return to ORB, though a few accepted my offer to join Terminal." He chuckled. "In fact, Tolle, Mir, Sai, and Kuzzey not only wanted to join, they wanted to help out on the ship. I sent them on up to the Bridge, for Neumann and Natarle to start training them in."

Ryu nodded absently as he turned away to look at the Gundams once more. "Hmm, I was wondering where the secondary elements came from in their design," he mused aloud, catching their attention. "It didn't really fit Sutura's style of design..."

"Jaden showed mom the model the moment he finished it," Matt said. "She liked it... I never thought she would take it this far..." he chuckled a bit. "I'm looking at 'em right now, and I still can't believe it..." He then glanced at Ryu. "Ryu, I don't know why Jaden hates you... but I know some of the old him is still in there," he said. "Jaden used to admire you before the war, he said you were his inspiration to one day join Orb's military or Morgenroete. Some of the old him must be in there... he may not admit it, but deep down he still respects you."

Ryu was silent as he stared at the mobile suits, a distant memory playing before his eyes. "It was the Battle of Endymion..." he said, getting their attention. "My Squadron commander, my fiancee, Yuna Falcon... she died during a suicide run against a ZAFT ship containing a prototype signal jammer..." his blank eyes closed as his hands rose up and moved as if they were holding the controls of a mobile suit. "I went completely and utterly berserk. I killed everything before me in the most brutal and ruthless fashion conceived, including that of Jaden's Commander, whose unit was damaged, but functional enough to move."

Matthew looked at Ryu, listening intently. "What happened?" he asked, his eyes slightly narrowed. "What did you do?"

"I slaughtered him," Ryu answered emotionlessly as his hands dropped and his eyes opened. "I saw no difference at that time, injured or healthy, fighting or retreating. I slaughtered him and so many others I cannot even count them... Jaden said that I am a monster who does not feel regret or guilt... but he is wrong... every night, I see their faces and they say. 'Your time comes brother... the time comes when you will join us in this hell'."

"Wow..." Takeshi muttered, his eyes wide. "I... I knew you had been through a lot, but I never realized you'd been through this much..."

Ryu was silent for a few moments, before he continued. "After that... it was his turn to go berserk," he said. "Jaden and I fought... both of us not caring what was around us, all we saw were enemies. Any EA ship or Moebius in his way he destroyed, just as I destroyed any ZAFT ship or MS in sight. Our fight lasted... until the Cyclops went off, and I never saw Jaden again, until now..." He shook his head. "And now he hates me..." He sighed and shook his head again. "But... I bear more hatred than just his, after all, the families of the Third ZAFT Fleet hate me as well after my 'River of Blood' Rampage..."

Takeshi put his hand on Ryu's shoulder. "You've been through a lot, Ryu..." he said. "Losing your fiancee like that... it's something I can't even imagine... and dealing with all the hate directed at you after that... it's no wonder you came to ORB looking for a fresh start." He smiled. "I'll support you as much as I can, though. And I know Kira-Imouto will support you, as well, no matter what." He then turned to the doorway, where his Spatial Awareness had told him his sister was. "Am I right?" he asked her.

Kira stood there, a calm smile on her face as everyone turned to face her. "Of course I will," she informed as she walked forward until she was beside Ryu and leant against him comfortingly. "After all... remember our promise?"

Ryu smiled as he slipped an arm around her shoulder and held her close. "How could I ever forget that?" he countered softly, enjoying the warmth of her body against his. He then leant down slightly and whispered into her ear, "You are the light in my dark life Kira... thank you..."

Kira smiled reassuringly as she squeezed his waist tightly. "And you are my rock, Ryu... thank you," she countered in a whisper of her own, her lips quirking into a smirk as she rose on her toes a bit to kiss him sweetly.

Takeshi watched them, smiling. "Every time I see them like that, it affirms in my mind that they're perfect for each other," he whispered to Cagalli. "I also wish I had a relationship like theirs, but I know it'll come eventually."

Cagalli snorted. "Seeing them like that, it makes me feel like I'm bearing witness to a once in a century event." She muttered. "Then again, I don't exactly understand relationships."

Matthew simply looked at Kira and Ryu for a moment, with a small smile as he thought back to someone he once cared about... however he shook that from his mind before he left.

Takeshi cleared his throat, causing Kira and Ryu to break their kiss and look at him. "Why don't you two get some rest," he said. "We shouldn't have any problems getting to _New Platea_, and I can deal with them if we do."

Kira smiled thankfully at her brother as she linked her arm with Ryu's. "Thanks, Take-nii!" She said gratefully as she and Ryu headed off towards their quarters.

After they left, Takeshi turned towards the other exit. "I'm gonna go help with maintenance on the Tempest," he remarked. "It still needs repairs after the last battle, and I'll need it back in top shape ASAP if we run into any trouble. What are you going to do now, Cagalli?"

Cagalli shrugged. "I'm going to put some time in on the Strike's Simulator, I'm still not quite accustomed to it's performance specs," she informed as she headed for the Hangar. "I need to be able to master the Strike if I am to protect ORB and end this war."

Takeshi smiled, even as he followed her to the Hangar. "Excellent determination there, Cagalli," he said. "I think you'll make a fine leader when the time comes for you to succeed your father."

_Meanwhile,_ _outside Artemis defensive line_

The Buster, Duel, and Archer Gundams launched from the _Vesalius, _and were soon followed by Miguel and Jaden's customized GiNN's, as well as a shuttle launched from the _Vesalius_,which carried Captain Ades. The _Vesalius _meanwhile turned around, and headed back towards the PLANT's.

Meanwhile, the mobile suits and shuttle approached the small fleet of ships now approaching them. One _Laurasia-_class Frigate, two _Nazca-_class Destroyers, and one ship Jaden had never seen before. It was large, easily larger than even a _Nazca-_class and rivaled the size of _Archangel._

"_Whoa..._" Miguel said. "_What is that ship?_"

"The data package said it's called the _Andraste,_" Jaden said, looking at the ship. "Latest ship class of the fleet... she's 15% faster than a _Nazca-_class, and even better armed. She's planned to replace the _Nazca _as ZAFT's Flagship vessels for the fleets. She's possibly the best ship in the fleet now."

The Mobile Suits and shuttles landed on the _Andraste, _while the M.S docked into their ports, Ades' shuttle landed on the ship's hangar, where the crew had gathered to meet their new Captain.

Ades paused as he looked around the Hangar and inspected the assembled crew members. "I will be keeping this brief as I am not one for ceremony. I am Captain Fredrik Ades and I will be taking control of the _Andraste _by the order of the PLANTs Council," he said, introducing himself. "Our first mission and the _Andraste_'s christening will be the capture of the Eurasian Satellite Base Artemis in order to acquire their Lightwave Barrier Technology. I expect you all to give this your all and show me you what you are all capable of. You are dismissed to your battlestations ladies and gentlemen. Pilots, report to the bridge for your mission briefing."

The crew all saluted, as they dispersed to reach their respective battlestations, and the Captain himself headed and left for the Bridge while the Pilots left their suits.

Dearka let out a low whistle as he looked around. "I'm liking this ship," he said. "It's bigger, and makes the _Vesalius _look like a cheap escort ship in comparison!"

"Yeah, it's okay I guess," Rusty said, looking around as well, "I like the _Vesalius_ though... we've been on it since we joined ZAFT."

Yzak nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it became just as much a home as the PLANTs." He agreed.

Then, a new female voice spoke up. "I know how you feel, Yzak," it said, causing Yzak and the others to blink. "I used to be on the _Marvest, _but they transfered me here. But the ship is just as good, if not better." The group turned to see five individuals approaching them, four of them in ZAFT Red coats, and one wearing a white coat. The first was a woman about 16 years old with waist-length dark brown hair, that was tied up near the bottom and grey colored eyes.

The second was also a woman, much older in her mid 20's with short neck-length orange hair, and a single black eye, her right eye having an eye-patch over it.

The next was male, in his late 20's with short black hair and brown eyes, and next to him was a another man wearing glasses, with short blue hair and black eyes with a scar moving above his left eye. And finally, the last of them was a man, with short white hair and hazel colored eyes.

Dearka let out a low whistle as he felt a slight amount of sweat trickle down the back of his neck. "Man, talk about peer pressure," he announced. "Being put on the same ship as a buch of ace pilots... man do I feel insignificant."

The woman who spoke, the one with the dark brown hair, smiled a bit as she looked at Yzak. "Great to see you again, Yzak," she said, surprising the others, minus Yzak. "It's been a while since the Academy."

"You know her, Yzak?" Rusty asked, and Yzak nodded.

"Yeah, we knew each other from the academy," he said, with a smile of his own. "Good to see you too, Shiho. Last I heard you were in the Ground Corps."

Shiho shrugged. "I got transferred out," she said. "I was selected for the CGUE DEEP Arms project," she tilted her head up, indicating the Dark Blue and Aqua colored CGUE DEEP Arms. "I love that machine... but the Thermal Cannons are a real problem though."

"I can fix that for you," Jaden said, as Shiho looked at him in surprise. "I helped in the DEEP Arms' development, I can have those Cannons fixed to more modern standards after the battle."

However, Jaden turned back to the woman with the eye-patch and the two Red coats who flanked her along with the lone white coat. Jaden smiled as he saluted her. "Good to see you again, Commander Harken," he said. "You too Simeon, Reinhard, Mikhail."

Hilda smirked a bit. "Good to see you too, Kid," she said, causing the other pilots to look at Jaden surprised. "It's been a long time since Endymion."

"Damn, does everyone _but _me know ace pilots..." Dearka groaned out, getting a weak chuckle from Rusty.

Miguel however looked surprised "Jaden, you never told us you knew the Black Tri Stars _and _Mikhail Coast!" He asked, stunned.

Mars Simeon grinned as he grabbed Jaden and put him into a headlock, as Jaden shouted in protest. "Yeah, we were all on the same team before and during Endymion," he said. "Haven't seen from him since, ya little runt! And look at you now! A Full Commander!" Mikhail, meanwhile, smiled a bit while Herbert Von Reinhard chuckled.

"So no need to call us 'sir' anymore, Jaden," Hilda said, smiling. "We're all the same rank now. James would be proud, Jaden."

Jaden frowned for a brief second before he forced up a smile. "Thanks, Hilda," he said. "So, I think it's about time we got to the bridge: We've got a mission to plan."

Archangel, _Ryu and Kira's Quarters_

Ryu sighed as he leant back in the chair he was sitting in, staring at the screen of his laptop that showed a schematic for a mobile suit on it. "Hmm, but now the problem is powering it," he muttered to himself. "The dual energy battery doesn't have enough output to be able to power the unit fully, even Terminal's Enhanced Batteries wouldn't be able to power it for a very long time... this is just like that unit all over again..."

He tapped a finger on the desk for a minute before he hit a few buttons bringing up a separate schematic, this one showing a remarkable likeness to the G-Weapons. '_So... Jaden had also designed a unit like this one, huh?_' He asked himself, his eyes narrowing tightly. '_Is it fate perhaps? I wonder what kind of situation we would have been in, had this unit been produced instead of the Duo..._'

His eyes flicked up to the title of the blueprint.

**UN**ited

**I**nter-Neuro

**T**actical

S**Y**stem

Project Unity.

One of the few things he took when he left the EA. '_I know I was right to take the Unity blueprints with me,_' he thought to himself. '_This unit, when I designed it... I wanted it to be the revolution for mankind... not the weapon of death the EA wanted to use it for, but they managed to construct the Duo from the data they salvaged... I suppose I owe ZAFT one for attacking when they did... or I would never have been able to grab the Duo when I did, I was close to hiring Terminal to steal it for me..._'

He tilted his head as he heard the shower in the bathroom stop, Kira having gone in for one shortly after they had gotten back into their quarters.

Letting out another sigh, he shut down his laptop. "Enough of that for today, I think," he muttered to himself.

Hearing the door to the bathroom open up he looked over, only to freeze as all conscious thought left him.

Stepping out of the bathroom door was Kira, wearing almost nothing with just a white towel wrapped around her, which barely covered her modesty, as she had wrapped it in a way which showed every last one of her curves. Kira herself smirked a bit, as she leaned on the Bathroom door frame. "See something you like, Ryu?" she asked with a light giggle.

Ryu blinked stupidly for a minute as his eyes took her in. "Yes," he admitted with complete honesty.

Kira giggled a bit more before she walked towards Ryu, swaying her hips quite noticeably towards him. "I can't imagine all that you've been through, Ryu," she said, "but you don't have to face life, or your past, alone anymore. I will always be by your side, and support you however I am able."

"Kira..." Ryu started, but was cut off as Kira placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I... I know that you will probably always love Yuna more than me..." she whispered. "But... that doesn't change just how much _I _love you, Ryu... I want to remain by your side forever, just that is enough for me."

"Kira... actually, you're wrong about something," he informed her, his arms slipping around her waist as he held her close to his body. "Yuna... I will always love her, she is someone that could never disappear from my heart, but Kira... you are just as important to me as she is, I love you Kira, nothing will ever change that."

Kira had to blink back a few tears as a radiant smile grew onto her face. "Ryu..." she whispered, joy flooding into her voice.

Ryu looked deep into her eyes for a few heartbeats before leaning in and capturing her lips in a passionate kiss that Kira returned with just as much passion as she could muster. When they separated, Kira could feel the deep flush on her cheeks as her hooded eyes stared into Ryu's. "Ryu... I want you..." she informed, getting a hitched breath from Ryu. "Please, Ryu... I want you so much..."

"Kira..." Ryu breathed as her hand moved to the towel that was wrapped around her.

Undoing the knot that held the towel in place, she allowed it to drop from her body, revealing her smooth tanned skin to Ryu, fully exposed.

_*****Lemon Start*****_

"Please, Ryu," she pleaded as she flushed a deep red. "I want this..."

Ryu nodded dumbly, as he moved his hands slowly, first around her waist, before moving up, trailing across her smooth skin before cupping her breasts, causing Kira to let out a small moan at the sensation as he began to fondle with her large C-Cup Breasts. "Ryu..." She moaned out, as she used her hands to bring Ryu's head closer to her breasts.

"Kira..." Ryu breathed out as he nipped at her aureolas, making her back stiffen from the pleasure she was feeling. "Your skin is so soft... your entire body is warm..." he took one of her nipples into his mouth and gently sucked on it, getting a loud moan of pleasure from the brunette as she arched her back, pushing her breasts further into his face.

Kira's eyes were wide, and her mouth agape, feeling pleasure she had never felt, and letting out moans as Ryu continued sucking and teasing her breasts. "Ryu... Ahh..." she moaned out. "D-Don't stop...ahh... "

Ryu didn't stop as he moved one of his hands from her breasts lower to her snatch, where he lightly stroked the outside of her lower lips causing her to gasp lightly as she tightly gripped at head.

"R... Ryu..." She moaned out as her hips jerked slightly.

Ryu's lips smirked around the nipple in his mouth as he looked up at Kira before separating. "Mm, Kira, you seem to enjoy this," he teased lightly as he rubbed the outside of her pussy.

Kira let out a loud moan as she nodded, her hips jerking a bit more noticeably. "Ahh...y-yes..." She panted out. "I-It feels... so... GOOD!"

Ryu smiled as he continued his ministrations. "Good," he whispered softly as he leant back in and captured her lips in a searing kiss that caused her toes to curl up on themselves. "That's what I want," he informed as he slowly pushed a finger into her damp pussy, making her loudly moan.

"_YES!_" She hiss/moaned out while still kissing Ryu deeply, as he began pumping it in and out of her soaking pussy. Her hips now bucking almost uncontrollably. "So good... So good!"

Ryu then added in a second finger as he increased his pace and added a bit more pressure to his other hand's ministration of her breast, pinching and pulling it. Kira's moans tripled, as pleasure was assaulting her body almost constantly from Ryu's ministrations. Suddenly, Kira began feeling a strong pressure building up below. "R-R-Ryu!" she said. "I-I think I-I'm cumming!"

"Cum for me Kira..." Ryu whispered huskily into her ear. "Please cum for me."

Kira suddenly let out a loud ear-piercing scream of pleasure, as her pussy tightened around Ryu's fingers, which became covered in her juices as she came hard.

Ryu gently kissed the crook of her neck as she rode through her orgasm, her body twitching sporadically. "You alright?" he asked when he saw coherency return to her eyes.

"Y... yeah..." Kira panted. "That was... amazing... but... I want more... I... I want you in me, Ryu..."

Ryu gently kissed her gently as he cupped a hand around the back of her neck. "Of course, my love," he assured her as her hands tugged at the undershirt he was wearing.

Complying with her unspoken wish, Ryu quickly shedding himself of his shirt, closely followed by the boxers he was wearing, revealing his rather large member that stood at attention. He quickly scooped Kira up into his arms and moved her over to the bed, his lips occupied with her own the entire time, even as he set her on the bed and slid on top of her. "Are you sure about this... Kira?" He asked softly as their lips separated.

"Yes..." Kira replied, looking up at him with longing. "I want this so much... I want _**you**_ so much... please, Ryu..."

"Very well, then," he agreed as he lined himself up with her wet entrance and slowly began to push in, breaking through her barrier as she screamed out, clutching his shoulders tightly. "There, I'm in," he informed once he was fully sheathed within her, lightly kissing along her neck, trying to ease the pain however he could.

Kira nodded. "It hurts a bit, but... I was expecting that..." she replied. "But more than that, it feels good..." After a few moments to let the pain subside, she said, "Y... you can start moving now, Ryu..."

Ryu nodded as he slowly started to shift his hips, pulling his length from her pussy before slowly pushing them back in, causing Kira to moan loudly as her nails scratched at Ryu's back. "You're so tight Kira," he whispered huskily into her ear. "It feels like you're going to suck me in completely..."

"Ryu..." she whispered in reply. "You fill me up so much... it feels so good..."

Ryu's pace began to pick up, much to Kira's vocal approval, as his hands gently kneaded her breasts, his fingers expertly pinching her nipples as he thrusted faster into her pussy. "Kira..." he breathed out. "I'm gonna cum..."

"M... me, too..." she moaned. "Please... cum with me... cum inside me... I want to feel it..."

Ryu grunted as his thrusts became erratic and caught her lips in a searing kiss when he finally slammed his hips flush against hers, his cock pushing against Kira's womb sending her into a screeching orgasm, her velvety walls fluttering around his cock trying to milk him for all he had as his seed spilled into her open womb. "KIRA!" He shouted as he held her close to him. "I love you..."

"I love you, too, Ryu..." she replied. "I love you so much... I promise, I will always be by your side..."

_*****LEMON END*****_

Ryu smiled as he held Kira close to him as he slipped the covers over them. "Thank you Kira..." He whispered softly to her as they slipped off into sleep. "Thank you for being my light in the darkness that is my life..." He softly kissed her brow and buried his face into her hair, his eyes drifting closed as a single tear slipped from his eye. "I love you."

Kira smiled as her eyes drifted closed, happy to have just made love to the one she cared about, and who returned her feelings.

Neither of them aware of the new life that now lay within her...

END CHAPTER

**New Ship Specs!**

_Andraste-_class Assault Cruiser  
**Manufacturer:** ZAFT  
**Operators:** ZAFT  
**Ships of the Line:** (BVW1): Andraste, Britannia, Vicious, Latis, Coventina, Satiada, Nodens, Veteris  
**Overall Length:** 354 Meters  
**Overall Width:** 98 Meters  
**Power-Plant:** Unknown  
**MS Hangar:** 2  
**M.S Catapult:** 2  
**M.S Capacity:** 12  
**Armaments:** 6 x 2-Barrel 177cm High-Energy Beam Cannon; 2 x 937mm High-Energy Cannon; 10 x 3-Barrel 58mm CIWS Defensive Turrets; 8 x 450mm Multipurpose Launch System;  
**Technical and Historical Notes:** The _Andraste-_class was a newly developed ship class and type developed during the course of the First Bloody Valentine war. Developed in parallel to the _Eternal-_class Battleship, the _Andraste _is considered the predecessor to both the _Eternal, _and the _Minerva._ The _Andraste _was an assault cruiser, and was the first vessel produced by ZAFT that could not only fight in space, but has Atmospheric re-entry and flight capabilities, as well as the ability to submerge itself beneath the waves of Earth like a submarine. At its time, it was ZAFT's most versatile vessel, only surpassed by the _Archangel._ Its engine output was 15% greater than that of the _Nazca, _making it the fastest vessel in the ZAFT fleet.  
The _Andraste-_class was developed to succeed the _Nazca-_class as fleet Flagships. As such, after the launch of the _Andraste _and its success, numerous more such ships were developed and produced. By the end of the war, eight more _Andraste-_class Cruisers had been constructed, and production had yet to cease even after the war. By the time of the second Bloody Valentine war, the _Andraste-_class was a common ship class in the naval forces of ZAFT, operating alongside the _Nazca_ and _Laurasia-_class vessels.  
**Appearance:** Looks like the _Alexandria-_class Heavy Cruiser  
**Colors:** Red with Dark Green trimming


End file.
